Photos: Menachem Kalish

In Haifa, once known as the “Red City” for its strong union presence, an unusual coalition of chareidi, secular, and traditional voters came together to oust the 15-year incumbent, Yona Yahav.

Michi Alfer, chairman of Degel HaTorah in Haifa and a member of the city council, was instrumental in the campaign of the new mayor, Labor candidate Einat Kalisch-Rotem, who won by a margin of 56% to 38%. An architect and urban planner, Kalisch-Rotem becomes the first woman to lead one of Israel’s three largest cities.

Though chareidim represent a small part of the population in Haifa, a secular stronghold, they had for years been denied services and resources by Mayor Yahav. So Alfer went all out to defeat the incumbent, embarking on a campaign that included a historic visit by Rav Chaim Kanievsky at a Degel HaTorah rally that supported Kalisch-Rotem, two days before the election.

In fact, Rav Kanievsky hovered like a shadow over the entire campaign. When the leaders of the yeshivah world in Haifa complained about intentional harassment by Yahav, Rav Kanievsky said the mayor would experience a “big defeat.” Those words became reality last Tuesday.

Alfer almost lost hope just two weeks before the election, when a court disqualified Kalisch-Rotem’s candidacy over a technicality. Israel’s High Court, however, overturned the decision and allowed her to run. Sensing defeat, in the last days of the campaign, Yahav reached out to Degel HaTorah in an effort to offer a compromise and sign a deal. But, mindful of past promises that had been broken, Degel rejected the offer. Kalisch-Rotem’s huge margin of victory suggest it wasn’t only the chareidi public that was seeking change in Haifa.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 734)