Ultra-Orthodox alliance put to test in municipal election

JERUSALEM — A candidate running in the Beit Shemesh municipal elections said that his town is like a pressure cooker. With all the pressure building up inside, it could explode at any minute. It seems like everyone is tense, everyone is nervous, everyone is wandering in a sleepless daze, anticipating the elections that will take place on March 11. This is the second time in the past six months that the town of Beit Shemesh is holding an election. The winner in the first election in October 2013 was the ultra-Orthodox candidate Moshe Abutbol, who beat his rival by about 1,000 votes, earning him a second term as mayor.

A short time later, however, it was discovered that ultra-Orthodox voters voted twice or used phony ID cards to vote instead of someone else. Taking advantage of their somewhat similar appearance as ultra-Orthodox Jews, they were able to fool the members of the election committee and vote at two separate polling stations. Eli Cohen, the secular candidate for mayor, appealed his loss, and the Jerusalem District Court ordered that new elections be held in the city.