In the video: interview with the head of the Matula council David Azoulai after the shooting of the settlement 08.02.24/Yoav Itiel
As in the south, in the north as well, in many areas there will be no elections as part of the local authority elections that will be held on February 27 across the country.
The war in the north has a dominant effect: 80,000 residents of the conflict line in the north have been evacuated to the home front and in nine of the 14 municipalities evacuated due to the war, elections will not be held: Kiryat Shmona, Shlomi, Metula, Reger and the settlements of the Upper Galilee Regional Councils, the entrances to the Hermon, Marom HaGalil, Ma'ale Yosef and Meta which.
The Director General of the Ministry of the Interior Ronan Peretz announced that in Metula, where David Azoulai is in office, and Berger, where Ahmed Fatal is in office, they were the only candidates, and therefore extended their term by another five years. The elections in the other evacuated municipalities are expected to be held on November 19. True As of the time of writing these lines, the Minister of the Interior has not yet signed the orders in this matter. The candidates in the elections to these authorities are expected to receive financial compensation for the cancellation. The lists will be reopened, and the meaning is that in Shlomi Yishuv the head of the council Gabi Naaman will be able to resubmit his candidacy, after it was disqualified due to a technical error. This may be The one positive impact of the war - on the elections.
Those who will still vote on the conflict line, are the thousands of IDF soldiers from all over the country who are stationed there.
The elections in the IDF with double envelopes will begin this Tuesday, February 20. This year, in view of the large number of double envelopes from the votes in the IDF and in the hospitals, in a total estimated at more than 400,000 envelopes, the director general of the ministry estimates that he will only be able to publish the verified true results towards the weekend.
Damage to the house in Matula/documentation in social networks according to Article 27 A of the Copyright Law
Even in the northern authorities bordering the conflict line from the south, and in the authorities in general, the residents are preoccupied with the issues of the war that arose more strongly on October 7, and which in the north in particular have not yet received pro-active attention from the government.
The most difficult day for the rear, which is a front in the north, was this week, in Safed, which was actually not evacuated even though it was absorbing deadly rockets.
A scenario where such an event happens on election day worries all the contestants.
Another negative consequence of the war is that due to the postponement and freezing of the voter register to the state it was in prior to the elections originally scheduled for October 31, 2023, the 17-year-olds born after November 7, 2006, until February 27, 2007, will not be able to vote - this is a third of the year, a not inconsiderable figure Significant for those who rely on young voters.
The house circles stopped for many months and they are numbered even since it calmed down a bit in the south, and here and there they resumed.
"The elections are really not on people's minds right now," says Amichai ben Shloush, who is running for mayor of Acre.
"People are down. There is no attention. There is no spirit of elections. There are no home circles. You have to reach people in a different way. More personal meetings."
Election signs are hardly visible on the streets of the settlements after they were replaced by posters for the release of the kidnapped.
Many of those who are depicted were hanged even before the war and simply remained there.
On the railings of many balconies, Israeli flags have replaced the photos of the candidates.
Many of the residents are recruited into the reserves, their husbands and wives and theirs if they were not recruited themselves, are busy with their livelihood and the household that remains on their shoulders.
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In Haifa, retired police chief Yaakov Borovsky, who is running for mayor, said this week unequivocally that "the main question of the upcoming elections right now is who will lead Haifa better, more correctly and more prepared for the coming war as it takes place, and God forbid it takes place, in the spring. If we thought before the elections that we are dealing with the issues of The pigs, cleanliness, employment, Jews-Arabs or how to raise money - today the main question for the next mayor is the question of security."
Borovsky said these things to the hundreds of residents of the city who participated in the "Haifa Security" conference, which he initiated and with him on stage Major General (Res.) Yitzhak Barik.
In Haifa, which has been prepared for the day of command since October 7, all the prominent candidates published their security concept.
This is the plan for the establishment of the "Haifa Security Fund" by the former mayor, Yona Yahav, this is the "Etzioni plan for a missile attack" of the candidate David Etzioni, this is the "Han plan for the security of the residents of Haifa" of the candidate Avihu Han, who during the war also received the support of Bnei Gantz, this week in particular has more than financial support.
Posters, with the image of the two security forces, were immediately hung around the city.
Borovsky with Yitzhak Barik/Yoav Itiel
Avihu Han with Gantz/official website, the greens, blue and white
"On the morning of October 7th, after a minute, I already understood that there would be no more elections, and from then until today I have been all about the war," says Lavala!
Lt. Col. (res.) Ronan Marli, the mayor of Nahariya, who is a senior officer himself and formerly of the 300th Brigade, the nearby regional division, who is seen in recent news prepared for any scenario as he runs the city, with a 16-M rifle at his crosshairs. "On that cursed Sabbath , the campaign has completely stopped."
He is the only candidate for mayor, but mentions the need for a campaign that he prepared four months before the elections originally scheduled for October 31. "The city council is also very important and you have to understand that the campaign has completely changed.
All messages until then can be thrown in the trash.
I made videos, flyers, content for the activity.
Everything had to be recreated.
It created a difficult budget problem," he adds. "I think this is not a good time for the elections.
We said it dozens of times to everyone who needed it, from the prime minister to the last of the ministers and officials, but unfortunately that's how they decided.
I don't grumble about it, there are more important things, the kidnapped, the soldiers and the country are more important than anything.
I am on my mission."
Beyond that, he emphasizes that everyone repeats and points out the effect of the war on the democratic process that is normally defined as an election celebration: "The mood is not good and people are certainly not in the mood for the elections," says Marley, who also criticizes the Ministry of the Interior for the repeated postponements and the final date set in the height of winter. "It is clear to everyone that this has a drastic negative effect on the voter turnout among those with the right to vote, and you have a procedure that is not so democratic in my opinion." He also warns that the impact of the war is not only a matter of the past, but that there is still war in the background, and there is a security threat to His city may try and thwart election day. "It's enough to have one alarm on election day and we're in a completely different story," says Mayor Nahariya.
Ronan Marli with his men in Nahariya/Official website, Nahariya municipality
Head of the Shlomi Council Gabi Naaman/Yoav Itiel
Even in areas further away from the northern border, there is a quiet atmosphere throughout the election sector.
"I don't remember elections like this, it's not on people's minds at all," Rafi Gigi characterized the atmosphere in Hazor HaGalilit, his residence.
For decades, Gigi has been the owner and editor of the local "Mvat Hathor" and has covered many election campaigns.
According to him, what is happening this year has never happened: "Such a short time before an election, the area was always lively, but this year the public is completely indifferent. I talk to residents and many tell me that they do not intend to come and vote on election day at all," he said.
Hazor the Galilee is located on the edge of the war on the northern front.
South Emek Hula is not in the line of fire, but is definitely affected by what is happening on the border.
Residents from the settlements on the conflict line moved to the town, and in Hazor in the Galilee and its surroundings, red alarms were heard during the months of the war, and a number of drones were even shot down in the area. It is clear to everyone that the intensification of the fighting will surely also reach the Hazor area and be well felt there, and this is what concerns the residents the most.
"In such a situation, head An incumbent authority should receive the victory on a silver platter," said Gigi and explained: "It's a situation that works in his favor because the area is dormant and hardly busy with elections." Until last week, it did seem that Shimon Suisa, the head of the authority for the past 15 years, would indeed win the elections again , but then Shimon Kamisa, one of the contestants, withdrew his candidacy and joined Michael Kabasa. "They created an explosion and changed the political map in Hazor.
Despite this, the public is not really excited and the results of the elections will be affected mainly by the percentage of votes on election day," Gigi said. According to him, the public who live in the Hasidic Kirya vote in high percentages compared to the traditional and secular public, and this gap will stand out even more this year, therefore the decision of the leaders of the ultra-Orthodox community in the settlement is of great importance if to support one of the contestants.
IDF attacks in Lebanon/Flash 90, Eyal Margolin
A similar situation also happens in Tiberias.
There, too, an election campaign that began with a storm almost became completely silent since the war broke out.
Many evacuees from the border settlements arrived in the city, but despite this the city's economy suffered a severe blow due to the stoppage of tourism entering Israel.
"The elections do not concern the residents," said Ofir Nachmani who, until about six months ago, still considered placing himself as a candidate for mayor of the city.
"In Tiberias, about 64 percent of those with the right to vote vote in the local elections. In the elections in two weeks, maybe fifty percent will vote. This does not concern the residents, the people's heads are at war, and there are also no attractive candidates who sweep the residents behind them, so that they will make the public go to the polls."
As in Hazor HaGalilit, also in Tiberias the ultra-orthodox public will have a significant weight that may decide the elections, Nachmani believes.
In recent years, the ultra-Orthodox population has grown in the city, and according to him, it is a population that votes in higher percentages than the traditional and secular population.
This year he believes that the gap in the participation of those audiences in the elections will even increase compared to previous times.
He predicts that the ultra-Orthodox list identified with Rabbi Dov Kook, who is popular with a wide public in the city, will have a great success in its run for the city council plenum, and alongside the Shas list, the two lists can even win eight of the 17 seats on the council. There are two main contenders for the mayorship - Ron Kobi who wants to win Again, as he did in 2018 and in front of him, Yossi claimed to be supported by the religious-Orthodox bloc.
More on the same topic:
Elections to local authorities
the local authorities
Nahariya
Haifa
Tiberias
Gaza war
War of Iron Swords