It now appears that there will not be agreement in the Jerusalem mayoral race between the chareidi parties and instead of Degel Hatorah and Agudas Yisrael running under a combined Yahadut Hatorah ticket, they will run independent of one another for seats on the city council.

According to a BeChadrei Chareidim report, the party is acting in line with instructions from HaRav Baruch Solovechik, that even if there is agreement regarding the mayoral candidate, Degel should run its own independent list for city council. Degel Hatorah is still conducting polls to determine its position, and it has not yet ruled out its own mayoral candidate as well, but this is most unlikely at this stage.

What is certain as that if the chareidi parties run against one another instead of an agreement, a non-chareidi mayor will be elected as was the case in the elections when Nir Barkat was elected in his first term. Yaakov Litzman headed the opposition to candidate Meir Porush, and as a result, the door was opened to Barkat, who is about to step down after ten years in office.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)