Bennett backs Elkin in Jerusalem mayoral race as cabinet tensions simmer

Jewish Home party leader Naftali Bennett on Thursday backed Jerusalem Affairs Minister Ze’ev Elkin in his mayoral bid in the capital as tensions brewed in the cabinet over two senior ministers’ alleged behind-the-scenes support for a rival as the late October local election.

“My friend Ze’ev Elkin is the right choice for the Jerusalem public — a nationalist, with a clear right-wing worldview, who has also done much for the people of Israel and State of Israel in his many years of public service,” said Bennett, who is also education minister, in a statement.

“As Jerusalem affairs and heritage minister, Minister Elkin did much to bolster the status of the capital, and I am convinced that his extensive experience will aid him in leading the city in the years to come,” added Bennett.

Elkin on Wednesday night had accused Yisrael Beytenu party leader Avigdor Liberman and Shas leader Aryeh Deri of conspiring against him by cooking up ultra-Orthodox support for his rival candidate in the Jerusalem race, Moshe Lion — their longtime friend.

His claim followed an endorsement by the spiritual leaders of the ultra-Orthodox Shas and Degel HaTorah factions for Lion. The backing potentially divides the Haredi vote in the capital, which Elkin had hoped to secure.

The accusation set off a heated fight between Elkin and Liberman.

“If you are a man, take responsibility — say ‘I failed,’ don’t look for culprits,” Liberman told Army Radio, responding to Elkin’s remarks. “You didn’t manage to get the Likud’s support — don’t avoid responsibility.”

“Yvet, be a man and tell Jerusalemites you decided, along with your friend Aryeh Deri, to take over Jerusalem because of foreign interests and political deals at the expense of the residents of Jerusalem,” retorted Elkin on Twitter, using Liberman’s Russian name.

“Liberman and Deri tried to prevent me from running and failed. They tried to prevent the prime minister from supporting me and failed. And now too, this wheeling-dealing won’t pass, and I will be elected mayor,” added Elkin.

Elkin has been endorsed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and incumbent Nir Barkat.

On Wednesday night, Rabbis Chaim Kanievsky and Shalom Cohen endorsed Lion, a Jerusalem councilman, a significant boost for a candidate who has been lagging badly in recent opinion polls. Lion was previously defeated by current mayor Barkat in 2013.

Lion is running in a crowded field against Elkin; ex-deputy Jerusalem mayor and current Knesset member for the Kulanu party Rachel Azaria; political activist and councilor Ofer Berkovitch; little-known Avi Salman; Palestinian activist Aziz Abu Sarah; and others. Former candidate Yossi Havilio dropped out of the race earlier this month. Elkin, Lion, and Berkovitch are seen as the front-runners in the first round of voting set for late October. If none succeed in winning over 40 percent of the vote, a second round will be held in mid-November.

Another ultra-Orthodox faction, Agudath Yisrael, had previously endorsed Yossi Deitch for mayor, prompting Deitch, a Haredi candidate, to begin campaigning. On Thursday morning, Agudath Yisrael appeared poised to support Elkin’s candidacy — a move that was expected to see Deitch withdraw from the race.

“There’s a feeling of betrayal,” a source in Agudath Yisrael told the Kan public broadcaster, responding to the Lion endorsements. “Agudath Yisrael will likely support Elkin. Elkin is no less religious than Lion. Elkin is not a confidant of [secularist Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor] Liberman, who never misses an opportunity to attack anything religious.”

Elkin told Israel Radio on Thursday that Agudath Yisrael would likely announce its support later in the day.

“I am certain that Agudath Yisrael will support me,” he said. “There will be surprises in the coming hours.”

But hours after an Agudath Yisrael meeting, Hebrew media reports said the panel of rabbis had decided to continue to support Deitch.

Even without an endorsement from Agudath Yisrael, Elkin received a small consolation prize from one ultra-Orthodox faction with Eli Yishai’s Yachad party announcing that it would support him.

Yishai, a former top Shas politician, broke away from the party after losing a bitter leadership battle with Deri. He formed the Yachad party in December 2014 ahead of the 2015 national elections, but failed to clear the electoral threshold to enter the Knesset.

Elkin, a Likud cabinet minister, on Wednesday night squarely blamed his fellow cabinet ministers for the developments.

“After they denied and hid it for months, Liberman and Deri’s plan to again try and take over Jerusalem by running Moshe Lion — who in all the polls has earned one-digit percentages of support from the residents — has been revealed,” said Elkin in a statement on Wednesday night.

Lion, in response, accused Elkin of “inciting” against him.

“What a shame that Elkin is losing it and is having a hard time concealing his disappointment, but more seriously, he is engaging in incitement and divisiveness,” said Lion in a Thursday statement.

Liberman, speaking on Army Radio, called Elkin a “crybaby.”

The fight over the ultra-Orthodox vote is central to the October 30 race, representing some 37% of the Jewish population of Jerusalem, according to recent data from the Central Bureau of Statistics (the Arab population of Jerusalem boycotts the municipal elections).

A Jerusalem council member for five years, Lion received the backing of much of the Haredi community in the city in the 2013 mayoral race, but was nonetheless defeated by Barkat.

In August, prosecutors announced they would not pursue corruption charges against Lion, citing insufficient evidence. He had been suspected of illegally giving money to Shas party leader Aryeh Deri in 2013 in exchange for supporting his failed mayoral bid.