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Last update - 06:10 12/11/2008
Secular candidate Nir Barkat wins Jerusalem mayoral race
By Jonathan Lis, Yair Ettinger, and Ofra Edelman, Haaretz Correspondents, and Haaretz Service
Tags: elections, Tel Aviv 

Secular candidate Nir Barkat declared victory over Haredi rival Meir Porush in the Jerusalem mayoral election early Wednesday.

With all polling stations reporting in the capital, Barkat won 52 percent of the vote versus 43 percent for Porush. Russian billionaire Arcadi Gaydamak ran a distant third with just 3.6 percent.

In his victory speech, Barkat declared himself the mayor of all Jerusalemites, pledging to work for those who had voted for him as well as those who had voted for other candidates. He added that he would be working for both religious and secular, as well as Jewish and Arab residents of the city.
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Earlier, a telephone poll commissioned by Channel 1 had given Barkat 50 percent while Porush lagged behind with 42 percent.

The race in Jerusalem was one of many that captivated the country as Israelis around the country flocked to the polls for Tuesday's municipal elections, with Arab and ultra-Orthodox voter turnout exceeding expectations.

Meanwhile, Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai has won an additional five-year term in office. With all 646 precincts reporting, Huldai had won 50 percent of the vote to 34 percent for Hadash MK Dov Khenin. Oren Shachor placed third.

In Be'er Sheva, incumbent Ya'akov Terner lost to his former deputy Rubik Danilovich. Terner won just 30 percent of the vote versus 60 percent for Danilovich. With most polling stations reporting in Haifa, incumbent mayor Yona Yahav holds a 10-point lead over Ya'akov Borovsky.

Aides to Huldai said that 150,000 of the city's residents, which comprise 37.5 percent of all of Tel Aviv's inhabitants, voted on Tuesday. Khenin's campaign expressed satisfaction at the turnout.

"We are certainly happy that this is a higher voter turnout than the previous elections in 2003," Khenin campaign officials said. "Yet, this is still a lower turnout than we would have liked. We are certain that a considerable part of the fact that the campaign was galvanized in recent months is to our credit. But we have no idea as to what the results of the elections are and we are awaiting the announcement."

Most of the candidates in cities and local councils cast their ballots just a short time after polling stations opened. Afterwards, they devoted their efforts to last-minute campaigning.

As the polls closed at 10:00 P.M. local time, the nationwide voter turnout stood at 40 percent. At least 36 percent of those eligible to vote cast their ballots in Tel Aviv; 41 percent voted in Jerusalem; Haifa saw a 35 percent turnout; Be'er Sheva's voter turnout reached 40.7 percent; and in Kiryat Shmona, which is fielding nine candidates for mayor, the voter turnout stands at 33 percent.

Arab and ultra-Orthodox voter turnout is hovering around 30 percent. In the southern town of Lakia, voter turnout reached 59 percent. The turnout in Netanya, though, stood at 7 percent.

Despite the high voter turnout nationwide, Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit voiced the fear that voters would remain apathetic.

"The most grave thing that could happen is a low voter turnout that will testify to the voters' apathy," Sheetrit said.

Voters from the Gerrer Hasidic sect carried out its threat to snub Porush and vote for the secular Barkat. At two balloting stations in the Geula region, large groups of Hassidim were seen laughing and smiling as they arrived to vote. Upon leaving the station, they said they had vote in unison for Barkat.

At another voting booth, elderly Gerrer followers were seen being helped by younger Hassidim. "Your hand did not quiver when you voted for a secular candidate?" an older Hassid was asked. "We do what the rabbi says," he replied. "We're proud of this."

At the voting station on Lapidoth Street in Jerusalem, a number of Border Policemen were lightly injured after scuffling with dozens of ultra-Orthodox who tried to disrupt the voting. One of the protesters was arrested.

Meanwhile, Barkat's campaign claimed that the Jerusalem mayoral hopeful's Web site had been attacked by hackers. Surfers who entered the site were then transferred to the campaign site of Porush.

The allegations came as Barkat's recent 14-point margin over Porush has been cut to nine percentage points, Army Radio said.

In Tel Aviv, Huldai was facing a surprisingly strong bid by Khenin and his Ir Lekulanu (City for All) party.

The Be'er Sheva campaign - in which septuagenarian incumbent Mayor Yaakov Terner ran against much younger candidates, one of them a deputy and former protege of Terner's, Rubik Danilovich - was marred on Monday when bogus death notices announcing Terner's supposed demise were put up on walls throughout the Negev city.




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  • Women in politics - Between the glass ceiling and the mud floor
  • Be'er Sheva's elections: an Oedipal story
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    A ringing endorsement
    Jimmy Carter says Obama will waste no time in pursuing Middle East peace.
    Peres' olive branch
    Israel's president says the Arab peace plan is an opening for progress.
      1.   If you want to know what a Porush administration will look like 09:12  |  Concerned Yerushalmi 11/11/08
      2.   Haredi Have No Rights If No Tax Paid 10:53  |  Phil 11/11/08
      3.   JERUSALEM needs a responsible business man not another luftmensch 11:13  |  PETER SM 11/11/08
      4.   Does Porush need a PR person...? 12:15  |  Esther 11/11/08
      5.   The ultra orthadox should be desroyed!!!!! 13:15  |  Son of Meir Porush 11/11/08
      6.   Phil - if it was not for the tzaddikim you wouldn`t exist 13:23  |  Read some Tehillim 11/11/08
      7.   To 6: Read Some Tehillim 14:19  |  Phil 11/11/08
      8.   ROV Ha`Ir for Tel Aviv 16:26  |  Nephtaly 11/11/08
      9.   Rov Ha`ir for Jerusalem, please! 16:40  |  Jerusalemite 11/11/08
      10.   Poison`s in the air the people are fed up 17:29  |  Sit I. Zen 11/11/08
      11.   to: #1 17:40  |  Charles Smyth 11/11/08
      12.   And yet the Left supports Porush???! 18:04  |  Shlomo 11/11/08
      13.   *i* voted for NIR BARKAT AND CO.! 18:57  |  michelle 11/11/08
      14.   FYI - ton`s of Religious people voted Barkat 22:15  |  Jewish State 11/11/08
      15.   Voter turnout in municipal elections across Israel reaches 40% na 22:16  |  Joseph.E 11/11/08
      16.   Gerrer chassidim voted for Barkat 22:28  |  Religious Jerusalem 11/11/08
      17.   Arabs Vote On Behalf of Non-Existent Secular Persons 23:20  |  UsedToPostHere 11/11/08
      18.   why don`t arabs vote 00:39  |  natalie durson 12/11/08
      19.   Bogus Death Notices In Be`er Sheva? 00:59  |  Jeff Northridge 12/11/08
      20.   Mazal Tov Barkat 05:52  |  yehuda 12/11/08
      21.   To # 17 06:11  |  Hans 12/11/08
      22.   some good news for a change 07:09  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 12/11/08
      23.   re: Hans 20:56  |  UsedToPostHere 13/11/08
     Read & React
    Carter: Obama will waste no time pursuing Middle East peace
    Responses: 142
    Peres: Arab peace plan - an opening for real progress
    Responses: 96
    IDF soldier jailed for yawning during Rabin memorial service
    Responses: 117
    Ari Shavit: Israel needs a successor to Rabin
    Responses: 26


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