Women step ahead in battle of sexes

Ra'anana is already one of the few cities in Israel that has a local council containing equal numbers of men and women.

By MIRIAM BULWAR DAVID-HAY (TRANSLATED)
Ra'anana is already one of the few cities in Israel - if not the only one - that has a local council containing equal numbers of men and women, but it may make history in the coming municipal elections by becoming the first Israeli city ever to gain a council with a female majority, reports www.local.co.il. Ten of the city's 20 current councilors are female, and although several are not seeking re-election in the November 11 ballot, their departure will be offset by the many female candidates running in almost every faction list. According to the report, out of the 20 members of Ra'anana's outgoing council, 13 are competing for re-election - six women and seven men. In addition, a number of new faces, many of them female, have come forward as candidates. All the candidates have grouped into nine factions - a relatively low number compared with other cities - who are competing for 19 council seats. (Ra'anana has been operating with one "extra" councilor since the election of Mayor Nahum Hofree in 2005, and this election will see the number of councilors return to 19.) The report said that women head two of the nine faction lists, appear in second place on five of them and appear in third place on at least six of them. Current councilor and mayoral candidate Mali Polishok heads the "Derech Aheret" ("A Different Way") list, followed by two women, while current Deputy Mayor Ronit Weintraub heads the Meretz party list, followed by another woman. Mayor Nahum Hofree is followed by three women on his list, while on two other lists the second place is held by a woman and on the four remaining lists the third place is held by a woman. Even the united religious faction is running a woman in third place. MEANWHILE, SOME people are suggesting that Ra'anana be renamed "La-La Land" after an uproar broke out over the use of the Hebrew letter "lamed" on voting slips, according to the Hebrew weekly Yediot Hasharon. Veteran councilor Dan Baruch, who heads the "Lema'an Hatoshavim" ("For the Residents") list, is using the letters "lamed hey" to represent his party on campaign advertisements and wants to use them on the party's voting slips, as he has done in previous municipal election campaigns. But the Knesset member charged with approving the abbreviation, Likud faction head Gideon Sa'ar, has refused, apparently because the letter "lamed" is also being used by the Likud party in its promotional material and voting slips. According to the report, in order to use the letters "lamed hey" on his faction's voting slips, Baruch was required to seek the approval of Sa'ar and of Israel Beiteinu's Avigdor Lieberman. The latter agreed, but Sa'ar wrote Baruch a letter of refusal. Although the letter did not state Sa'ar's reasons, Baruch's number-two faction member, Sima Peri, said the Knesset member had objected to the use of the letter "lamed," which appears on Likud voting slips in the word "Mahal" - mem, het, lamed. Peri wrote to Sa'ar saying there was no way voters would confuse the "lamed hey" of Baruch's party with the "mem, het, lamed" of the Likud's, but no response was reported from the Knesset member. "I cannot understand the opposition of the Likud … this is the fifth election campaign in which I have used these letters and I have never had a problem until now," Baruch said. He added that he had already invested money and energy in advertising his list as "lamed hey," and it should not be possible to harm him in this way. "Maybe they are scared of our success," he added. Ra'anana Likud head Ilan Cohen - brother of the late deputy mayor Uzi Cohen - said the local Likud branch could still decide to allow Baruch to use the letters he wants. He said he and other members of the local Likud branch would meet in the next few days to discuss the issue and reach a decision. Ironically, no mention was made of the list headed by Mayor Nahum Hofree, which is also using the letter "lamed" - in this case, all by itself.