In Jerusalem, spin machine at full throttle

Voters in Jerusalem report getting a stream of text messages in the final minutes of voting day, some of them apparently misleading.

One text sent around at 8.15 p.m. urged Jerusalemites to go out and vote because “the Haredim are voting en masse.” It warned that “this is the last chance to stop the kombina” — a reference to the Lion candidacy.

Less than an hour later, text messages bizarrely signed by “the Barak (sic) campaign,” from a different phone number, purported to reassure voters that “we have won the elections. We’ll meet for another five years of action and Jerusalem will succeed.”

Ten minutes later, another text message warned, “Don’t be fooled by the spin. The battle is very tight. Every vote counts. Run and vote for Barkat now, and save Jerusalem. The polls close at 10.”