Kiryat Shmona Mayor Avichai Stern wins reelection after 15-month delay

6 March 2025, 5:15 pm

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Kiryat Shmona mayor Avichai Stern casts his vote at a voting station on the morning of the Municipal Elections, in Kiryat Shmona, on February 18, 2025. (Michael Giladi/Flash90)

Kiryat Shmona Mayor Avichai Stern has been reelected to another term in office, the results of the city’s hugely delayed municipal elections confirm.

The northern city’s municipal elections were delayed by 15 months due to the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, which began on October 8, 2023, when the Lebanese terror group began attacking Israel unprovoked, prompting the evacuation of some 70,000 residents of communities close to the Lebanese border.

The results of the February 18 election were published today, after taking longer than normal to be confirmed due to the city’s scattered population, most of whom have yet to return.

With 56% of the vote, Stern decisively defeated his opponent Eli Zafrani, who, despite receiving significant backing from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, received 44% of the vote.