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Thursday, November 27, 2025
Netanya to hold special election in January after longtime mayor died last week
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
The coastal city of Netanya will hold a special election on January 20, 2026, to select a successor to longtime mayor Miriam Feirberg-Ikar, who passed away last Friday at the age of 74 after a years-long battle with a serious illness, the Interior Ministry announces.
A social worker by training, Feirberg-Ikar worked in various capacities in Netanya’s municipality starting in the 1970s before being elected mayor in 1998 on the municipal Likud ticket.
She was reelected five times, most recently in 2024.
At the time of her death, Feirberg-Ikar was tied with Tel Aviv’s Ron Huldai as the longest-serving mayor in Israel.
The Times of Israel Community.