Beit Shemesh Mayor Moshe Abutbul (Shas) (Photo: FLASH 90)

W

ith three months to go before Election Day on October 30, campaigning for the municipal elections in Israel have begun in earnest. Two campaigns in particular — in Jerusalem and Beit Shemesh — are already heating up.

Let’s start with the chareidi candidate for mayor of Jerusalem. As of this writing, it appears that Reb Yosef Deutsch, who today serves as deputy mayor representing United Torah Judaism, has made his decision to throw his hat in the ring. Deutsch has been planning this move for a long time, but refrained from making it official before ensuring the support of all chareidi communities in the city. Last week, Rav Baruch Soloveitchik, a member of the Degel HaTorah rabbinic board in Jerusalem, announced the party’s support for Deutsch. Rav Soloveitchik met Deutsch several times, and together with Rav Dovid Cohen of the litvish Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah, reached the conclusion that supporting Deutsch will yield the desired outcome of a chareidi mayor in the capital city.

Another candidate for the top municipal position is Ze’ev Elkin, current Minister for Jerusalem Affairs, who has the support of outgoing Mayor Nir Barkat. Although Elkin belongs to the Likud, he won’t be running as a representative of his party because the Jerusalem branch of the Likud refuses to back him. Netanyahu also hasn’t announced that he’ll support Elkin.

Deutsch might still decide at the last minute not to run. It seems unlikely, but it’s possible, in which case, either Elkin or Moshe Leon (who won the support of Shas in the 2013 mayoral race) will be the most likely to win the chareidi vote, although it’s not yet clear which of the two.

Another hot spot is Beit Shemesh. After two months of exhausting negotiations between two-term Mayor Moshe Abutbul (Shas) and Degel HaTorah, there were dramatic developments at the end of last week, leading to Degel’s firm support for the incumbent. Responsible for the breakthrough is none other than longtime Degel activist Moshe Montag, chairman of the Planning and Construction committee in the city. As soon as he came to the negotiating table, Montag succeeded in altering the tone of the conversation. In the last two months, Montag had been unable to participate in politics due to legal problems, but last week he was back, and lost no time in brokering talks and reaching agreements.

This week found Montag in Jerusalem, sitting with UTJ MKs. Negotiations are almost complete, with the last few disagreements almost resolved. “The gaps are not wide, and there’s goodwill on all sides to continue the widespread activity that Beit Shemesh has seen in the past five years, for the benefit of the chareidi sector and the general Beit Shemesh population,” he said.

But even after reaching understandings with Degel, Abutbul still has his work cut out for him, with candidate Aliza Bloch (formerly of Bayit Yehudi) steadily bringing up the rear. Ramat Beit Shemesh Gimmel, a community with an overwhelmingly litvish orientation, has a surprisingly large number of signs with Bloch’s picture and campaign slogan. Locals say the phenomenon is a function of a longstanding resentment over a lack of services in the neighborhood, to the point where some residents are already stating they’ll opt for the national-religious candidate over the chareidi one. (Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 720)