Yossi Dagan wins election to head Samaria Regional Counci

Overall, 20,000 people in Samaria are eligible to vote. 62% of votes counted went to Dagan.

By TOVAH LAZAROFF
yossi dagan (photo credit: SAMARIA REGIONAL COUNCIL)
yossi dagan
(photo credit: SAMARIA REGIONAL COUNCIL)
Based on initial results, Yossi Dagan appears to have won the election to head the Samaria Regional Council.
Dagan had secured 49 percent of the votes by early Wednesday morning, compared with the 38% that went to his rival Sarah Dempsky.
With 62% of the votes counted, Dagan had 6,156 of the votes, while Demsky had the support of 3,658 voters.
Overall, 20,000 people in Samaria are eligible to vote.
“I feel the weight of this responsibly and I thank God for the privilege that has been bestowed upon me,” Dagan said.
“I intend to continue the national task of building the Shomron while providing its residents with excellent service,” said Dagan.
A father of three, Dagan lives in the Shavei Shomron settlement, and has served as the deputy head and acting head of the Samaria Regional Council.
Dagan replaces Gershon Mesika, who resigned from his post in June after he became a state’s witness in a massive bribery case against public officials.
Next to Mesika, Dagan is already one of the more visible leaders in the Samaria Regional Council.
He made headlines last week when called on the government to rebuild the four North Samaria settlements that it demolished ten years ago during the 2005 Disengagement.
Last week under his leadership some 20 families returned to the ruins of one of those four communities, Sa-Nur. They refused to leave and security forces evacuated them after three days.