In the midst of this election season, Shalhevet’s foreign-born faculty are just as interested in politics as the rest of America is. With opinions on what political issues matter most and the effect of the American government on the world, techers Ms. Malikov, Ms. Gidanian, Shlomit Abrams and even new arrival Ursula Madej-Krupitski all are keeping up with the issues that matter to them most.

“Healthcare, education,” said Math Department Chair Ms. Katarina Malikov, who grew up in the former Soviet Union, now Russia. “I would love to see that those that are not as lucky as I am still have access to the opportunities I have had.”

All the teachers interviewed said they follow the politics in America, even if they can’t or don’t vote.

“Because I live here and because I see America’s politics is an integral part of Israel,” explained Hebrew teacher Mrs. Shlomit Abrams, who moved here in 2002.

Mrs. Abrams is in the process of becoming a U.S. citizen, but won’t be able to vote yet this time around. For her, what is most important is whether or not the new president will be a reliable ally of Israel.

“The most devoted president to Israel is who I would vote for,” Mrs. Abrams said.

Whatever their thoughts on the issues, all of the foreign-born teachers agree that politics are known to be slimy, with cheating and mudslinging, in every country. And concerning American politics, they saw problems with having only two parties.

Shalhevet’s receptionist Ulla Madej-Krupitski is currently living in America on a green card. She was formerly an intern at the Polish embassy in Tel Aviv.

“It is different than the European system,” Ulla said of American politics.  ”Since it is two parties, many people vote for one just so the other isn’t elected.”

Mrs. Abrams noted that distinction as well, observing that in Israel there are many parties, while in America the options are more limited.

Ulla voiced that another major problem was the way voting runs. In the U.S., she said, individual votes matters less since each state is either Democratic or Republican.

“Single votes don’t count as much,” she said. “It is more about delegates. But where I am from, every single vote matters. It is more complicated here since it is different states, not an entire country.”  “[The states] are set on their decision,” she said. “Only a few states are undecided.”

Math teacher Ms. Tamara Gidanian, an American citizen originally from Iran, has a different qualm with the American voting system. She says politics in America are determined by capitalism, so she does not vote – even though she can.

Ms. Gidanian believes that in America whoever has more money is usually the winner of the election, and that independent groups don’t have that much of a voice because they don’t have enough money to advertise their opinions.

But flawed though it may be, Mrs. Malikov thinks America’s process is an improvement over Russia. In her homeland, she said, the elections are fixed.

“There were better years in Russian politics,” Ms. Malikov said. “But for the majority and for almost a hundred years now, people knew at once who was going to win the election”.

Ms. Gidanian says the elections are much worse in Iran.

“There was supposed to be freedom and democracy in Iran,” Ms. Gidanian said. “But unfortunately radicals rule Iran, so voting is not as free as it should be, and there is a lot of cheating in every election.”

Those are not the only foreign-born staffers at Shalhevet, but History Department Chair Dr. Michael Yoss, formerly of South Africa, and Biology teacher Mr. Sean Kangataran, formerly of Ireland, declined to be interviewed for this article.