Retail therapy? Israelis spend over a billion NIS on election day

Election Day is a national holiday in Israel. The spending tally Tuesday eclipsed those seen in the March 2020, September 2019, and April 2019 elections.

By The Algemeiner

As polls closed across Israel on Tuesday evening and the country waited for a final vote tally, there was one clear winner of the 25th general elections — the retail sector.

Israelis spent more than a billion dollars in credit card purchases since polls opened at 7 a.m. on election day, local media reported. Many businesses and chains advertised discounts and promotions to capitalize on the national holiday, whose increasingly frequency amid political gridlock in recent years has led many Israelis to express fatigue and frustration.

Some may have found an outlet in shopping, according to the latest figures, which showed an 18 percent increase in spending compared to the March 2021 elections, when Israeli consumers shelled out some NIS 872 million ($247 million).

The shopping frenzy reached an apex at 12:48 p.m., with more than 12,200 transactions and expenses of NIS 2.46 million ($696,000) registered in a single minute. Malls in particular reported a significate increase in visitors, both compared with a regular day and previous election days.

The spending tally eclipsed those seen in the March 2020, September 2019, and April 2019 elections, which did not surpass some NIS 651 million ($184 million) in expenditures each.