2013 Jerusalem mayoral election

2013 Jerusalem mayoral election
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Candidate Nir Barkat Moshe Lion
Party Jerusalem Will Succeed Likud Yisrael Beiteinu
Popular vote 111,108 95,411
Percentage 51.91% 44.57%
Mayor before election

Nir Barkat
Independent

Elected mayor

Nir Barkat
Independent

The 2013 Jerusalem mayoral election was held on 2 October, 2013,[1] and saw the reelection of Nir Barkat.[2]

The election was part of the 2013 Israeli municipal elections.

Campaigning

Lion was regarded as the candidate of the far-right and was strongly linked to Avigdor Lieberman.[3] The candidate of Likud-Yisrael Beiteinu[2] (an alliance between the Likud party led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Yisrael Beiteinu party led by Lieberman), he was regarded as Lieberman's candidate. It was believed that Lieberman had hoped that a Lion victory would bolster his chances of potentially challenging Netanyahu's leadership.[3] Pundits posited that Haredi opponents of Netanyahu's government were supporting Lion in hopes a victory for him would help provide momentum to topple Netanyahu's coalition in the Knesset.[3] Also supporting Lion was Aryeh Deri, the chairman of the Shas party.[4] Lion did not receive the support of Netanyahu, who formally remained neutral in the race, but was speculated to favor Barkat.[4]

Barkat was endorsed by the Israel Hayom newspaper. Lion was endorsed by Yedioth Ahronoth.[4]

It was speculated that a last-minute agreement between Barkat and major sects of the city's Hasidic populace were key in delivering Barkat his reelection.[5]

While the coinciding municipal elections in most other cities relatively attracted little attention, Jerusalem's mayoral race attracted significant attention.[4] The election was tense and hard-fought.[4]

Results

2013 Jerusalem mayoral elections results[1][2]
Candidate Party Votes %
Nir Barkat (incumbent) Jerusalem Will Succeed 111,108 51.91%
Moshe Lion Likud-Yisrael Beiteinu 95,411 44.57%
Chaim Epstein Jerusalem Faction 7,530 3.52%
Total 214,049 100

Results

  1. ^ a b "רשומות ילקוט הפרסומים" (PDF). www.nevo.co.il. 17 November 2013. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  2. ^ a b c Nikolenyi, Csaba (1 March 2020). "The 2018 Municipal Elections in Jerusalem: A Tale of Fragmentation and Polarization". Contemporary Review of the Middle East. 7 (1): 6–24. doi:10.1177/2347798919889762. ISSN 2347-7989. S2CID 213423030. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  3. ^ a b c "Jerusalem mayor reelected; defeats far-right candidate". Newspapers.com. The Miami Herald. Reuters. 23 Oct 2013. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d e Caspit, Ben (25 October 2013). "Jerusalem Mayor's Re-Election Setback for Liberman - Al-Monitor: The Pulse of the Middle East". www.al-monitor.com. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  5. ^ Newman, Marissa (31 October 2018). "In Lion-Berkovitch runoff, rogue Hasidic voters could hold key to the capital". www.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 26 July 2021.