Additional protests are planned in Beit Shemesh as mayoral challenger Eli Cohen and his supporters are unwilling to accept the outcome of the recent mayoral race. It appears that a major protest will take place outside City Hall on Thursday, 4 Kislev 5774.
Israel Police’s elite Yahav 433 unit is now conducting an investigation. Nine arrests have been made in connection to suspected election fraud in the chareidi community. While the suspects have been released with restrictions, police are not done and additional arrests may follow.
For many, the battle is to determine the character of Beit Shemesh for if the incumbent remains, it is clear the city will continue growing in the direction it has, serving as a major chareidi city. However, if Eli Cohen is successful in turning the election around, this would be viewed as a victory for the dati leumi and non-religious community.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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14 Responses
The Chareidim are more than happy to accommodate the daati minority in bs with all their needs.
The last sentence is the REAL reason why they want new elections.. the Dati Leumi and Chiloni can’t stand the Chareidi.
ראש העיר אלי כהן
in gimatriya =
זהו רשע הוא לכל דבריו
Chilonim are sore losers!!! If there’d be more chilonim in Bnei Brak, these sore losers would demand re-election there too. No re-elections in Yerushalayim because a chiloni won there.
There was about equal amount of fraud on both sides in Beit Shemesh but certainly wasn’t 1000 fraudulent entries for Abutbul the way chilonim make it sound.
As the Interior Minister pointed out, this is a legal question for the electoral commission and the courts as to whether the alleged forgeries were significant enough to require repeat elections, though he said that it seemed to him that at most new elections would be required only in those precincts where the irregularities are shown to have occurred, not necessarily in the whole city. It’s clear what both sides want. There also seems to be reason to suspect that there were irregularities on the side of the DTL community. As I understand it, until there’s a court decision, the election results stand.
There’s also been some talk that if the election results do stand, elements in the “old” Beit Shemesh may try to divide the city into two separate cities, possibly with the industrial and commercial (i.e. tax generating) areas going to the “old” part, leaving the religious areas with a much smaller tax base. Stay tuned.
Honesty is a virtue no matter where you live.
#2- Until some 20-25 years ago Beit Shemesh had no charedi residents. Everyone in town was either mesorati (the majority), chiloni or D”L. When charedim first came to town they were WELCOMED by the local residents. As the charedi population began to grow it became apparent that significant segments of the charedim who had arrived absolutely despised the original residents – and made a point of showing it at every possible turn. Can you really blame the original residents for coming to resent those charedim?
Is it so difficult for people who call themselves Frum Jews to be intellectually honest. If your candidate lost a race and overwhelming voter fraud was expossed, you’d scream too.
A sore loser is someone who lost fair and square and won’t accept it. Everyone accepted the Chareidi Mayor’s victory last election because they thought it was an honest vote. Can you Gemmoroh Kup understand the difference?
When any Jew commits fraud it is a Chillul Hashem.
When a Chareidi commits fraud it is even a bigger Chillul Hashem.
There has been fraudulent voting for Cohen in chiloni and daati neighborhoods.
The only way you can say that there was election fraud in the non-Charedi sector is because by definition one who commits fraud is not Charedi.
There was massive fraud committed by the daatim and chilonim.
10 & 12 Any facts, stats, witnesses or just blab, blab and blab??
It is under an active police investigation and it is publicly known.