In response to the call from gedolei hador in Bnei Brak Shlita, 53,208 eligible voters in Yerushalayim voted for Yahadut Hatorah in the municipal elections. There were a total of 218,053 votes in the Jerusalem race.

Yahadut Hatorah received the most votes for the city council, 53,208, maintaining the party’s eight council seats. In second place is Shas, with 34,747 votes which earned the party five council seats. However, the chareidim do not have a majority on the city council, which numbers 30 seats.

Approximately 7,500 seats went to Chaim Epstein and the Bnei Torah party, resulting in one council seat.

In other heimish election news;

· Ashdod: Yahadut Hatorah went up from three to four seats.

· Betar Illit: Meir Rubinstein will continue as the city’s mayor. Degel, Agudah and Shas earned a combined 12 seats on the city council.

· Bnei Brak: Chanoch Zeibert will serve as mayor. Yahadut Hatorah holds 17 of the city’s 25 council seats.

· Charish: Rabbi Yitzchak Keshet was elected to head the municipality.

· Elad: Sruly Porush will serve as mayor. Yahadut Hatorah earned six city council seats, three each for Agudah and Degel.

· Emanuel: Rav Ezra Gershi was elected as head of the local council for a second term.

· Givat Ze’ev: The Gimmel/Zayin combined torah list earned two seats.

· Modi’in Illit: Yaakov Gutterman continues as the city’s mayor. Yahadut Hatorah earned 13 council seats, 9 going to Degel Hatorah.

· Rechasim: Former municipal council head Rabbi Yitzchak Reich was elected. Yahadut Hatorah and Shas ran on a combined ticket, earning eight seats.

· Telshe Stone: Veteran Mayor Rav Avraham Rosenthal was reelected.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)