Polls open, drawing politicians

Polls opened across the country with little incident Tuesday morning. Many politicians exercised their democratic rights early, including President Shimon Peres, who voted at the Jerusalem High School for the Arts, near his office.

Peres called on everybody — young and old — to vote. “The role of the city in your day-to-day life is just as important as the national government,” he said in a press statement.

Jerusalem mayoral candidate Moshe Lion also headed to the polls, after an early morning prayer session at the Western Wall and a visit to the grave of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef.

Lion told reporters he is expecting “a big victory.” While he has the wide backing of the city’s ultra-Orthodox political machine, a recent poll showed him expected to lose by some 20 percentage points to current mayor Nir Barkat.