Elections 2013: Who’s in, who’s out

The capital’s mayoral race was the most closely monitored in the country.

By IN JERUSALEM STAFF
Jerusalem municipal election 370 (photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post)
Jerusalem municipal election 370
(photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post)
The capital’s mayoral race was the most closely monitored in the country, as Mayor Nir Barkat and surprise candidate Moshe Lion battled it out under the watchful eyes of the press and the country. Each claimed he could influence Jerusalem’s character for the better, as they hustled to collect prominent sponsors and supporters to boost their integrity and prestige.
But for Jerusalemites, the city council race was no less consequential, with the number of seats and political blocs determining the appointment of deputy mayors and crucial decisions that will affect residents’ daily lives.
The council results, not taking into account the soldiers’ votes, indicate on the one hand a boost to the haredi bloc (14 seats), which gained two seats overall (one more to Shas and one to the new Bnei Torah party) and on the other hand increased the strength of the parties representing the young, heterogeneous population. Hitorerut increased its number of seats from one to four, while Rachel Azaria’s Yerushalmim party, which looked set to swell its ranks if volunteer activity in the Baka, Katamon and Talpiot neighborhoods was anything to go by, rose from one to two seats.
Barkat’s Jerusalem Will Succeed party lost momentum, going down from six to four seats, which notably include opposition leader and the mayor’s former colleague, and then bitter rival, Meir Turgeman.
Yael Antebi’s Pisgat Ze’ev on the Map party retained its one seat.
In terms of the national parties, their performance was fairly lackluster. Meretz joined with Labor for this election, but dropped from three to two seats, both of which are occupied by the Meretz representatives. Likud Beytenu retained its single seat, while Bayit Yehudi dropped from three to one. The two seats won by the new United Jerusalem party, with both former deputy mayor Shmuel Shkedi and far right activist Arieh King elected, however, meant that the national-religious bloc remained unchanged.
Parties that didn’t pass the threshold included Naomi Tsur’s Ometz Lev party and the haredi Tov list.
As for those who were elected, let the jostling for positions begin.
Mayoral Election Results:
Nir Barkat 51.11% Moshe Lion 45.32% Haim Epstein 3.57%