Shas announced its support for Mayor Yehiel Lasri. A candidate for mayor, Avi Amsalem, who won 10 percent in the polls, withdrew his candidacy.
The move brings the mayor of Ashdod closer to a fourth term, after a poll conducted in the city by Direct Falls gave him 44 percent already in the first round without the Shas. The multitude of contenders for mayor led to tremendous tensions, tearing down and vandalizing of signs and mutual attacks between the candidates.