#0202_A_View_From_Haredi_Jerusalem

"Degel Hatorah Goes to Battle in the Municipality: Election Management Committee Appointed

Degel Hatorah [1] goes to the municipal elections [2] and appoints the members of the election committee. The committee will be headed by Members of Knesset Moshe Gafni, Uri Maklev and Yaakov Asher, along with other public figures. The fateful decisions on the agenda: Jerusalem and Beit Shemesh.

As was revealed earlier in B'hadrei Haredim, the members of the municipal committee will meet with Rabbi Natan Zochovsky [3] in his home in Bnei-Brak, with the issue of municipal elections on the agenda. B'hadrei Haredim also discovered that the main discussion with Rabbi Zochovsky will focus on the cities of Jerusalem and Beit Shemesh, where Degel Hatorah must make some significant decisions.

In Jerusalem, the central dilemma arose after Mayor Nir Barkat announced his decision not to run again for mayor in order to join the national political arena [4]. The question is whether to support the candidacy of the expected Haredi candidate Yossi Deitch [6] or to run another Haredi candidate from within the ranks of the party. There is also the question of whether to support the non-Haredi candidate Moshe Leon [7]."

– B'hadrei Haredim

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0202 Editor's Notes:
[1] Degel Hatorah (lit. Flag of the Torah) is one of the main Haredi political parties, both on the national and municipal level in Jerusalem.
[2] Municipal and local elections across Israel are scheduled to be held at the end of 2018.
[3] Rabbi Zochovsky (born 1937) is a prominent rabbi of the Ashkenazi Haredim. Each Haredi political party has a council of leading Rabbis that directs the parties’ actions and appoints party leaders. In addition, key dilemmas are brought to the Rabbis and are decided under their guidance.
[4] Nir Barkat is the current mayor of Jerusalem and is scheduled to complete his second term at the end of this year. A secular Jerusalemite, Barkat was a significant change for the city following his predecessor, the Haredi Mayor, Uri Lopliansky. His somewhat expected announcement to move into national politics is considered to be the unofficial opening shot for the municipal race. For more, see: https://bit.ly/2ExVbX1 .
[6] Yossi Deutsch is a Haredi politician from the Haredi sub-party Shlomei Emunim which is part of the national Haredi party Agudat Yisrael. The sub-party was set up to run party representatives for local elections across the country.
[7] In 2013, Moshe Leon ran for mayor of Jerusalem but lost to incumbent Mayor Nir Barkat. In August 2015, Leon joined the municipal coalition and the faction of Mayor Nir Barkat. As part of the coalition agreement signed between the two, he began to serve as a member of the city administration and as the holder of the community management portfolio.

#Elections #Politics #Municipality

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