Residents of areas near Gaza border vote to stick with incumbents in delayed local ballot

By Sam Sokol 20 November 2024, 10:57 am

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Sam 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"

Sderot mayor Alon Davidi (center) at the scene where a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip hit and caused damage in the southern Israeli city of Sderot, October 24, 2023.(Yossi Aloni/Flash90)

Preliminary results in southern Israel’s long-delayed municipal elections show residents favoring incumbents by a wide margin, nine months after most municipalities in the rest of the country held their own elections.

According to the Interior Ministry, Sderot Mayor Alon Davidi was returned to office with 77.8 percent of the vote. Hof Ashkelon and Sdot Negev Regional Council heads Itamar Revivo and Tamir Idan were each elected to another term with 87.6% and 77.3% of the vote, respectively.

No candidate appears to have reached the requisite 40% support in the Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council, necessitating a run-off election on December 3. Ofir Libstein, who previously headed the council, was killed defending Kibbutz Kfar Aza from Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023.

Michal Uziyahu is elected as head of the Eshkol Regional Council after running unopposed.

Interior Ministry numbers show that 65 percent of the 65,335 eligible voters from areas near the Gaza border cast ballots in the elections.

Verified results will likely only be released at the end of the week due to the large number of absentee ballots cast by displaced residents and IDF troops.