Whatever the outcome of the 18 Marcheshvan 5774 municipal elections will be, what is known in advance is the frum community hasn’t learned the lesson of the last election, which resulted in the defeat of the chareidi mayoral candidate, Meir Porush.

Yahadut Hatorah is running under a united list and after Shabtai Markowitz decided to withdraw his bid for a city council seat, Yitzchak Pindrus remains at the helm of the Degel list followed by Yossi Deutsch. Third on the combined list is Yisrael Kellerman, followed by Yochanan Weizman, Michael Halberstam, Eliezer Ruchberger and Yaakov Halprin.

Shas’ list is headed by veteran deputy mayor, Eli Simchayof followed by former Elad Mayor Tzvika Cohen and Nati Lasri.

The Bnei Torah list is headed by Chaim Epstein, followed by Menachem Ettinger and Yishai Ashkenazi.

While Likud/Beitenu and the chareidim are supporting Moshe Leon in the mayoral race, most predict Mayor Nir Barkat will succeed in his bid for a second term, backed by the non-religious, dati leumi and some chareidim too.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)