No Chareidi Unity In Tzefas Runoff Elections

Any hopes of chareidi unity in the runoff election in Tzefas, which is scheduled for Tuesday, 5 Kislev, have now vanished as chareidi candidate Eliezer Lazar, who lost in round one, is not endorsing Nachman Gelbech, the chareidi candidate in round two.

Lazar has announced he is backing the Likud candidate in the runoff, Shuki Ochana. The announcement came as a surprise to many and once again, it will divide the chareidi vote in the northern city. Ochana almost took the race in the first round, earning 38%, but he did not quite reach the required 40% mark.

Meuchadim Party Headed By Aryeh King Backs Moshe Leon In Jerusalem Runoff Election

In a move that significantly boosts his chances of success in the upcoming Jerusalem runoff election, the Meuchadim party has announced it endorses Moshe Leon in the race to become Jerusalem’s mayor against Ofer Berkowitz.

Meuchadim, headed by Jerusalem Councilman Aryeh King, endorsed Yossi Deutsch in the first round of voting and is now standing behind Leon. King in recent days has been speaking out against Berkowitz, whom he labels as a leftist and one who identifies with the Meretz party.

There is talk, albeit yet to be confirmed, that Agudas Yisrael has teamed up with King’s party, and as such, the chassidish party will back Leon in the runoff election. In addition, details of the agreement between Meuchadim and Leon have yet to be publicized.

Election Committee: Agudas Yisrael’s Rav Lubert Will Continue On Tel Aviv City Council

The decision was brought before the Tel Aviv Election Committee which convened on Monday evening, addressing the controversy in the city regarding the votes of IDF soldiers. It was decided that a number of votes were disqualified, and that the מאמינים – גב list received two representatives on the city council. This means Agudas Yisrael’s Rav Naftali Lubert will be serving his fifth term on the council.

Rabbi Lubert, who is credited with the tremendous spiritual revolution of southern Tel Aviv, said that justice has won, and the Torah revolution will not stop. “The song of the Torah and the pillar of grace that are spread over Tel Aviv-Jaffa will continue in full force for the next five years as well.”

Sources in the chareidi community in the city expressed surprise at people from chareidi parties who did everything in their power to thwart the choice of people who observe Torah and mitzvos and preferred Meretz activists in their place.

Jerusalem Mayoral Candidate Elkin Now Has To Climb Out Of Debt

While Israel is heading to runoff elections on Tuesday, 5 Kislev, in some cities and municipalities around the country, the elections are behind us in most cases, and for many losing candidates, now comes the matter of addressing the staggering debts that were incurred in trying to get elected.

Perhaps first on the list is Minister of Jerusalem Affairs (Likud) Ze’ev Elkin, who now finds himself in a difficult financial situation as he lost the city’s mayoral race, earning two seats on the city council. He is reportedly left with a debt of NIS 3.4 million. If he does not repay the money to the banks within a year, the guarantees he received from businessmen, mostly Israelis of Russian origin, will be waived. The result is that a government minister is facing economic and personal pressure, and even if he does not actually owe money to businessmen, he may cause them to lose large sums.

The budget Elkin planned for his mayoral race was NIS 6 million, which he thought he was be able to return via the grants paid by the state in accordance to election results he obtained. A candidate who received at least 25% of the vote and earns at least one seat on the city council in a large city such as Jerusalem, receives NIS 1.5 million. However, Elkin did not receive 25% of the cote. Elkin was counting on receiving four seats at the city council table as was the case with outgoing Jerusalem mayor, Nir Barkat. Had this occurred, he would be paid NIS 5.4 million.

The bottom line is Elkin received 20% of the vote and two seats on the city council, earning him NIS 2.7 million. His campaign fundraising raised all of NIS 44,000 in donations. Since he was never officially endorsed as the Likud candidate, but ran on his own as did Barkat, Elkin cannot walk away and leave the party with his debt.

A local candidate is allowed to raise a maximum donation of NIS 5,000 from a home. According to Elkin, he intends to act according to the law and raise 680 such contributions in the coming year and cover the debt so that the guarantees will not be in a jam. In addition, the funds he raised also took into account the likelihood of entering the runoff election, which he is not a part of, but this too narrows the debt.

If guarantees are forgiven, Elkin is expected to receive a fine from the state comptroller who sees the realization of a guarantee in excess of NIS 5,000 as a prohibited contribution. Elkin is expected to run in the Likud primaries in 2019, and will also need many donations there.

Sources in the Knesset said this week the situation in which a government minister is left with a debt of millions of shekels that may eventually be paid by businessmen is problematic. Even those businessmen have no interest in the offices that Elkin is responsible for. The result is that one of the strongest political players in the country has an ethical problem of economic and personal commitment.

Some of Elkin’s backers from his party explain there is a problem with the fundraising process surrounding elections, adding, “In the legal system, every candidate in the country lives in uncertainty about what will actually happen on Election Day, and Minister Elkin and his faction are not the only ones in such an event.” Regarding the possibility that the minister will be obligated to businessmen, they explained: “It is suggested that you ask about the matter in about a year from now.”

The logic of the financing method is that candidates and lists receive funding according to public support, and perhaps it would be preferable to plan a careful election budget instead of getting into debt. But the disadvantage is that only candidates with the means to spend millions of shekels of their money on the election campaign can be free of pressure from interested parties.

Nir Barkat was such a candidate, whose fortune is estimated at hundreds of millions of shekels. To a certain extent, the candidate who beat Elkin and climbed to the second round in Jerusalem, Moshe Leon, is free of similar pressures. Leon ran on an independent faction and won 33% support in the race for mayor and is not entitled to funding from the state because his faction didn’t win any seats.

The unprecedented situation leaves him with a large deficit: his campaign cost is estimated at NIS 6 million, while he raised only NIS 125,000. Leon sold his share of the accountancy firm founded by Leon Orlitzky a few years ago, claiming he is financing the campaign with his own money.

Ofer Berkowitz, who will face Leon in the second round, will enjoy a very high grant from the state. After winning 28% of the votes, the Hisorarus list which he ran under will receive a NIS 1.5 million grant. The seven mandates that the list has drawn will bring in another NIS 9.45 million, totaling NIS 11 million. Berkowitz raised donations in the amount of about NIS 195,000.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)