Friday 2 November 2018
Last update on Friday, November 2, 2018 At 10:25 AM
Municipal elections were held in Israel on 30 October 2018. For the first time, the Knesset’s Internal Affairs Committee has approved a bill to enable Israelis to get a day off, part of an effort to increase citizens’ involvement in local politics and increase voter turnout which has declined in recent years. Some of the primarily results, according to officials on Wednesday morning, show businessman Moshe Lion and secular activist Ofer Berkovitch heading for a runoff vote on November 30.
There are no winners declared in Tuesday’s mayoral race in Jerusalem. The primary results of the city’s municipal council race have been tallied showing two Israeli contenders moving on to another vote on November 30th after neither won the minimum of 40% that is required to become the next mayor of Jerusalem: the skullcap-wearing bureaucrat Moshe Lion, who have received about 79,000 votes (33%), will face off against the upstart activist Ofer Berkovitch, who received 68,000 votes (29%).
The primary results of municipal elections also handed a stunning defeat to the Minister of Jerusalem Affairs Ze’ev Elkin, coming on in third place despite being officially backed by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. Elkin has received about 47,000 votes, amounting to 19%, and Yossi Deutsch 40,000 votes, which is 17%.
Other results of Israeli municipal election
According to the Interior Ministry, about 57% of the voting eligible Israelis voted during 2018 municipal elections with an average of 44.7% in Tel Aviv-Jaffa, 35% in Jerusalem, where Arab residents, who constitute a little more than a third of the city’s population, boycotted the vote, and 47% in Haifa.
The overall increase of some 5%, compared to the last elections that were held five years ago, is certainly a significant boost, with nearly 400,000 more voters.
In Tel Aviv, 2018 mayoral election is coming in with Ron Huldai who has been re-elected for another term after being mayor of the city for the past 20 years.In Haifa, Labor Party candidate Dr. Einat Kalisch-Rotem seems to have defeated the city’s Mayor Yona Yahav after her 15 years at the helm and became the first woman to head one of the country’s major cities.
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