Jerusalem's local elections conclude with impressive turnout

Earlier, the municipality ruled that there would no longer be an automatic haredi representative on each board.

By PEGGY CIDOR
THE EIGHT local councils must be the link between the municipality (pictured) and the specific needs of residents in their respective neighborhoods. (photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
THE EIGHT local councils must be the link between the municipality (pictured) and the specific needs of residents in their respective neighborhoods.
(photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
Coronavirus, a pending lockdown, the worsening pandemic – none of these were strong enough to prevent thousands of residents from showing up to vote in the local council elections last week.
Eight councils within Jerusalem now have new ruling bodies, though in three of the localities, elections became unnecessary after agreements were achieved among the candidates themselves on the formation of the council.
All those involved in organizing the election seemed to agree that the balloting went well and was a positive development. “This is a strong indication that Jerusalemites really care about their surroundings,” said Deputy Mayor Arieh King, who holds the municipal portfolio for local councils and community centers.
The eight new local boards are in the followings section of the capital: Pisgat Ze’ev, Greater Baka, Ginot Ha’ir, Eshkolot, Homat Shmuel, Gonenim, Bayit Ve'gan and Beit Safafa.
Ginot Ha’ir, which covers Rehavia, Nayot, and the German and Greek Colonies, was the first area to suggest that instead of holding elections, an agreement should be reached among longtime activists on the composition of the board.  
Soon after, the same decision was made in Eshkolot (which includes the predominantly haredi neighborhoods of Ma’alot Dafna, Sanhedria, Shmuel Hanavi and Ramat Eshkol), and later in Pisgat Ze’ev.  
Earlier, the municipality ruled that there would no longer be an automatic haredi representative on each board. That custom had been requested in the past as a way of ensuring that ultra-Orthodox residents in pluralist neighborhoods would receive their special needs in the realms of education and religion, even if they represented a small percentage of the population.
IT WAS an appeal to a local court regarding Greater Baka which ultimately led to the across-the-board abolition of the practice of securing a haredi seat.
“It means that residents trust the local council apparatus as the best representative tool, whether they are haredi, religious or secular,” King explained. He said that turnout for the elections was “impressive,” adding that it was “a clear victory” for “democracy at its best,” though he adds that “we have to remember that haredim are ready to give up on many things in order to stay in Jerusalem; I wish secular residents would be ready to do the same.”
In Gonenim, where an election did take place, Yossi Saidov, a past chairman of the local board, was re-elected.  He too applauded the large turnout, saying the residents came out despite “these coronavirus days in order to vote and express their confidence in the neighborhood social activists. These activists take care of their neighbors' interests in culture, sanitation, education, leisure.”
Another aspect of the elections was the relatively high number of women among the candidates. In Greater Baka, three women were elected to the nine-member board. One of them, Anat Mufkadi, wrote on Facebook that “with 48.5% of the votes for me, I am going to fulfill this mission, empowered and with full responsibility to work for those who sent me.”
However, the agreement in Ginot Ha’ir resulted in only one woman chosen to serve, as did the election in Beit Safafa.
The eight local councils will now embark on their mission of serving as the link between the municipality and the specific needs of the residents in each neighborhood.
The municipality sees “the broader picture,” adds King, “but who, aside from the resident, can know where exactly there is a need for a small path to ensure safe access for children going to and from school? Only the resident who lives there or uses that specific little path. That’s the mission that only a local council can fulfill.”
“One of the most urgent tasks will be to ensure that local residents do not learn about large construction projects through the media, sometimes too late to submit their objections or require changes,” says a member of the outgoing board in Ginot Ha’ir.
“The most interesting place is Gonenim,” says King, citing tensions among different parts of the neighborhood. “I expect that this time the new board will work.”
The deputy mayor adds that because this is a neighborhood due to double its population within a few years, every issue at stake will be crucial.
“They will have to work on everything – infrastructure, traffic, transportation, all the needs for the new population, mostly young families expected to move there.”
According to regulations, elections must be held in Jerusalem’s other local councils (22 remaining localities) by March 2021, whether at the same time or on different dates.
There is one stumbling block. The rules also state that local council elections cannot be held within six months of a Knesset ballot, and Israelis will be going to the polls on March 23 to vote for the new parliament. King notes he is trying to change the regulation to reduce the wait period to three months.


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