Shmuel Rosner writes in Slate about the contested mayoral race in Jerusalem:
All the candidates share one goal: to save Jerusalem. But they don’t agree about what they’re saving it from. Barkat wants to “save” Jerusalem from Haredi expansion. Porush would like to save it from a return to secular rule. Deri wants to save the Haredi community from Porush, who is perceived as “too Haredi” to be electable. The Russian billionaire’s motivations aren’t exactly clear, and he might quit the race, but for the moment his main cause seems to be saving Jerusalem’s sports teams.
And, of course, they all want to save Jerusalem from the Arab Palestinians—about one-third of Jerusalem’s population—who traditionally don’t vote in elections because they don’t recognize Israel’s sovereignty. This year, however, they may reconsider this Palestinian tradition: For the first time, a Palestinian Jerusalemite has announced that he is definitely going to run. (Previous potential Arab candidates didn’t make it to the polls under pressure from the Palestinian leadership in the West Bank.)
Read the full article here.