Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman have reportedly asked a close associate to run for Jerusalem mayor.
Netanyahu and Liberman tapped Moshe Leon, currently the chairman of the Jerusalem Development Authority, to replace incumbent mayor Nir Barkat, Yedioth Ahronoth reported Wednesday. Barkat, some of whose policies are similar to those of the Likud, heads his own independent list in the city council.
Leon was reportedly told he would have the support of Likud, Yisrael Beytenu and some of the parties representing the ultra-Orthodox in the city.
Associates of Leon confirmed that he was seriously considering the offer, adding that Leon was a public figure who could “bridge and connect between the opposing factions in Jerusalem — mainly the Haredim, the religious and the secular.”
Leon was Netanyahu’s chief of staff from the end of 1996 to 1999 during his first term as prime minister.
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He resides in Givatayim and would have to make the move to the capital if he decides to run.
Barkat has set his sights on at least one more term as mayor, but could face a tough battle if a candidate widely supported by the ultra-Orthodox community was to run.
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