Municipal elections are set for 18 Marcheshvan 5774, Tuesday, October 22nd.

In Bnei Brak there are three candidates in the race to become the Torah city’s next mayor and no less than 10 lists competing for slots on the city council. In actuality, 12 lists were submitted to the local election committee, but only 10 were approved.

The law permits electing 25 people to the city council to represent the city’s 179,000 residents. There are 104,321 registered voters.

The candidates for mayor include Chanoch Zeibert, who is a deputy mayor and viewed as the leader in the mayoral race. Competing against him are Chaim Ruchamkin, who heads the local Bnei Torah party branch and Yigal Alush of the Bnei Brak Meuchedet (United Bnei Brak) party.

Among the parties competing in the election are; The Central Torah List (Agudas Yisrael/Degel Hatorah) which today holds 18 of the 25 council seats. This is the list that includes Zeibert and today’s mayor, Avraham Rubinstein.

Shas, which has six seats in the outgoing city council hopes to significantly increase its foothold in that body in the upcoming election. The list is headed by Eli Dadon.

The Bnei Torah party list is headed by Chaim Ruchamkin, and he and his colleagues are optimistic as well.

The Bayit Yehudi list in the city is headed by Eli Werbin, a member of the outgoing city council as well.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)