The race for the position of Mayor of Jerusalem just heated up. This evening attorney Avi Salmon announced his candidacy for the position running against incumbent Mayor Nir Barkat who will be running for his third term. Salmon said: “Today, the first shot was fired for the candidacy that will define Jerusalem’s future.”

Over the past decade Salmon has filled a number of roles in the Jerusalem municipality. He began as a field advisor for Barkat, then became the legal advisor for the opposition in the city council, for the mayor’s office and for the municipal elections.Later on, Salmon acted as the City Advisor of Business Development and finished off as a City Attorney

In his commencement speech, Salmon claimed that Barkat was more interested in trying to get onto the Likud Knesset list than he has been with worrying about Jerusalem’s welfare. “With one foot there and one foot here, Jerusalem no longer interests him (Barkat) and he is using it as his default. I therefore have decided to throw my hat into the ring and run for Mayor of Jerusalem.”

Salmon continued: “We have gathered here tonight to say thank you to Nir Barkat for his wonderful service and to wish him well in his endeavors with the Likud party. Jerusalem needs a full-time Mayor. Nir, I want to personally thank you for the terrific job that you have begun helping Jerusalem. I see now how much energy you are putting into getting elected as a member of the Likud party. Every Friday I see the busloads of Likud voters that you bring to the city and give them personal tours, hoping to ingratiate yourself with them ahead of the upcoming primaries. I saw the Selichot ceremony with the 5,000 Likud voters that you organized at The International Convention Center in Jerusalem, in order to win them over. Thank you so much for all of these efforts.”

Municipal elections in Israel are scheduled for November 2018.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)