Residents of Beit Shemesh took to the ballot box on Tuesday morning, again, in a repeat municipal election that has stoked inter-communal rivalry and bitter recriminations between haredi and non-haredi communities in the city.The original election results were cancelled by the courts due to evidence of systematic voter fraud.
Beit Shemes 1 (Photograph: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Beit Shemes 2 (Photograph: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Beit Shemes 3 (Photograph: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Beit Shemesh 4 (Photograph: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Beit Shemesh 5 (Photograph: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Beit Shemesh 6 (Photograph: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Beit Shemesh 7 (Photograph: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST) Incumbent mayor Moshe Abutbul of Shas, who was victorious in the original poll, arrived in good spirits at his polling station shortly after 10:00 in the morning and talked up his achievements for all communities in Beit Shemesh.Asked if he agreed with the comments of haredi MK Moshe Gafni, who described the election as a war of religion, Abutbul accused the non-haredi camp of starting such a war.He said however that no attempts should be made to illegally influence the elections, describing such efforts as “contrary to Jewish law and [civil] law.”Eli Cohen, the challenger to Abutbul’s candidacy arrived at his polling station just after 11:00 accompanied by raucous music and chants of “We’re not giving up on Beit Shemesh” and Moshe Abutbul go home!”“This struggle in Beit Shemesh is a struggle of the entire state,” said Cohen. “Beit Shemesh can be a model for living together in this country,” he continued, saying that the city administration had to treat all communities equally in terms of services and infrastructure. if(window.location.pathname.indexOf("656089") != -1){console.log("hedva connatix");document.getElementsByClassName("divConnatix")[0].style.display ="none";}Much speculation has surrounded the possible participation of the radical anti-Zionist haredi elements in the city who have a general policy of not voting in Israeli elections on ideological grounds.Haredi sources have indicated that several hundred, out of as many as 4,000 voters in Beit Shemesh from the anti-Zionist factions could come out and vote in today’s election, which would be a significant boost for Abutbul.