Jerusalem Mayor's Re-Election Setback for Liberman
The victory of incumbent Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat in the municipal elections does not bode well for Knesset members Avigdor Liberman and Aryeh Deri, who placed their bets on his opponent.
The mayor of Jerusalem is considered one of the most prestigious positions in the Jewish world. Immediately after the prime minister and the president, and just before the chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel, the mayor of Jerusalem is the closest to vie for the title of the "President of the Jewish People." There is no greater consensus in Judaism than about Jerusalem, which embodies all the prayers and the yearnings of the Jewish people for millennia.
The name of the city is not recited in prayers only. It is also featured in the slogans of all of Israel's general elections: "Peres will divide Jerusalem" brought Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to power in the 1996 elections. It also appears at pivotal junctures in the life of every Jew, wherever he is.
