On Tuesday, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu used his twitter account to announce his support for Minister of Jerusalem Affairs, Ze’ev Elkin, in his bid to become the next mayor of Jerusalem. The announcement was made despite the rivalry from the Likud branch from which Coalition Chairman MK David Amsalem and Elkin both grew up in.

Amsalem, who is a member of the local Jerusalem branch of Likud, is objecting to Elkin’s candidacy, as the local branch opposes a candidate from the national party entering the local arena and announcing his candidacy for a post that usually goes to a local official, and the position usually serve as a springboard for the next position.

In addition, Amsellem explains that the candidate’s perception of the borders of Jerusalem are not in line with the Likud’s. These are some of the issues raised by Amsellem in a letter sent to PM Netanyahu in June, in which he objected to backing Elkin as the party’s candidate in the Jerusalem race. Nevertheless, albeit with some delay, PM Netanyahu has come out in support of Elkin to become the next mayor of Jerusalem.

The local chapter of Likud is perturbed as Elkin deciding to announce his candidacy without any discussion with local officials, and as a result, highlighting the absurd of Israeli politics, there will be two Likud lists in the race, Elkin’s and the local party’s list, despite the prime minister’s backing of Elkin. After all, Netanyahu is the party’s national leader, but local officials are not backing Elkin nonetheless.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)