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Secular Jerusalem mayor ends orthodox dominance
Ed Harris12.11.08
JERUSALEM was today coming to terms with a new mayor, a secular businessman who has ended five years of ultra-orthodox Jewish control of one of the world's most complex cities.
At the end of a divisive campaign which raised tensions between Israel's orthodox and secular Jews, Nir Barkat promised to be a mayor for "all of Jerusalem's residents".
Mr Barkat, 49, told jubilant supporters as he claimed victory at a pre-dawn celebration: "I stand here and express my thanks for the great honour I have been given to serve as the mayor of Jerusalem, the capital of Israel and the heart of the Jewish people."
The former paratroop officer promised to represent the city's large ultra-orthodox and Arab populations as final results showed that 52.4 per cent of voters had backed Mr Barkat. His opponent, veteran ultra-orthodox politician Meir Porush, received 43.4 per cent.
Mr Barkat will succeed Uri Lupolianski, the first ultra-orthodox Jew to serve as mayor. His election to the five-year term reflected a rejection of Mr Lupolianski by secular residents, who widely believed the outgoing mayor favoured ultra-orthodox constituents.
Many secular Israelis are resentful that thousands of ultra-orthodox men shun work for religious study, leaving their families to depend on government benefits.
National political parties failed to field candidates, leaving the race to representatives of two of the city's three often fractious groups. With their high birth rate, ultra-orthodox Jews represent a growing proportion of Jerusalem's population. Many secular Jews have left the city to find better job opportunities and cheaper housing.
Jerusalem's Palestinian residents make up a third of the population of 750,000 and have the right to vote after Israel annexed their section of the city in 1967. But most boycott the elections, believing that taking part would be recognising Israeli control.
The status of Jerusalem is one of the most hotly-contested issues in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. Israelis see the city as their capital, while Palestinians want to locate the capital of a future state in the east of the city - which Israel occupied in the 1967 Israeli-Arab war. Mr Barkat opposes any division of the city and supports building thousands more apartments for Israelis in the disputed part of the city, a policy certain to anger Palestinians.
A third candidate, Moscow-born Arcadi Gaydamak, won only 3.6 percent of the vote. Mr Gaydamak, who is on trial in absentia in France on charges of selling arms to Angola, owns the popular Beitar Jerusalem football team.
