Vote for Sisso

October 13, 2008 - 1:23 PM by David · 1 Comment
Filed under: General, Israeliness, Politics

The November presidential elections in the US aren’t the only game in town. Next month will also see municipal and mayoral elections in a number of Israeli cities and towns.

Most of the attention has been on Jerusalem, where incumbent haredi Mayor Uri Lupolianski has been replaced on his party’s ticket by longtime MK Meir Porush. Just a couple weeks ago, former Shas leader Aryeh Deri was barred from competing against Porush because the timeout by law following his 1999 conviction of fraud and bribery hadn’t finished yet.
And of course, the great white hope, secular high tech candidate Nir Barkat is hoping to wrest the mayoralty out of the haredi hands. And on the side, Russian mega-rich businessman/shady character and Betar Jerusalem owner Arkady Gaydamak is also running on a ‘speak English only’ platform.

But lots of other cities and towns are also holding elections for mayors, with equally scintillating scenarios. Take the Haifa ‘burb of Kiryat Yam. The mayor there for the last 15 years has been one Shmuel Sisso. The veteran lawyer and former Israel consul general in New York been considered such a popular – or powerful – mayor that nobody had even bothered to register to run against him. That is, until just recently, Sisso’s younger cousin Alon, threw his hat in the ring.

According to a Ma’ariv report, Alon, who is running on a Likud ticket, was really only interested in gaining a seat on the local council, but national Likud leader Binyamin Netanyahu advised the 38-year-old attorney to go for broke. Older cousin Shmuel, who is running under Kadima auspices, is not happy with the clan competition. Whatever the results in the Kiryat Yam mayoral elections, it will be all in the family.

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Tags: Alon Sisso, Arkady Gaydamak, Aryeh Deri, ballot, binyamin netanyahu, election, Haifa, jerusalem, Kiryat Yam, mayor, Meir Porush, municipal, Nir Barkat, president, race, Shmuel Sisso, Uri Lupolianski, vote

The nature of Jerusalem

September 8, 2008 - 1:12 PM by Jessica · 5 Comments
Filed under: A New Reality, General, Politics, Religion

There’s a discussion that keeps getting repeated around certain Jerusalem gatherings these days, particularly in these weeks leading up to the mayoral elections. It’s the question of whether Jerusalem is, or is becoming ultra Orthodox, and what will that mean for those of us who are not?

One story being circulated last weekend regarded the additional eruv erected around Kiryat Hayovel, as the new, ultra Orthodox residents of the neighborhood didn’t feel the existing eruv was sufficient for their needs. There are the increasingly empty secular schools, while ultra Orthodox schools seek more space for their growing population. And there’s the upcoming election, which is pitting an ultra-Orthodox candidate, Meir Porush, against a Russian oligarch, Arcady Gaydamak, and a secular, independent businessman, Nir Barkat. There’s also the strong possibility that Aryeh Deri, a former Shas star, will also enter the race. jerusalem_emblem(2)1.jpg

It’s a race that perpetuates the nagging question of who really represents the character of the capitol…and Jerusalemites feel that the nature and character of the city will increasingly depend upon who’s sitting in City Hall.

But, a real estate piece in today’s Haaretz says that the numbers don’t necessarily support the prevailing feelings.

“There is evidence of a moderate increase in demand by ultra-Orthodox families throughout the city, and a significant increase in demand by Haredi families in certain quarters of the capital.

The real figures may come as a surprise. Many Jerusalem neighborhoods are indeed increasingly characterized by an ultra-Orthodox lifestyle. But a study of the demographic changes in the city shows that, in relation to Jerusalem’s entire Jewish population, the proportion of ultra-Orthodox has increased quite modestly in recent years.

Jerusalem today has 740,000 residents, 480,000 of whom are Jewish. Dr. Maya Choshen of The Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies says that according to the institute’s estimates, in 1995 the ultra-Orthodox constituted 29% of the city’s Jewish population while in 2000, the figure was 30%. Today it’s 32%, or some 196,000 people.

These figures illustrate that the increase of Jerusalem’s ultra-Orthodox population over the last 13 years was modest. By 2020, the proportion of Haredim out of the city’s total Jewish population isn’t likely to exceed 35%.”

Hard to tell what it all really means. Will another haredi mayor send Jerusalem farther down the path toward total ultra Orthodoxy? Will the liberal religious and secular pockets of Jerusalem prevail? Will a Nir Barkat answer these particular needs, or is that just wishful thinking? And does any of it matter? It seems that only time will tell.

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