Yona Yahav, candidate for mayor of Haifa, votes in the local elections, Dania neighborhood polls, February 27, 2024/Yoav Itiel
From the counting of approximately 99% of the votes of the voters in Haifa this morning (Wednesday) it appears that the two leading candidates for mayor, Yona Yahav and David Etzioni - will qualify for a second round of elections and compete head to head for the position.
Yahav, the mythical mayor, who lost in the previous elections to Einat Kalish Rotem, won about 36% of the votes.
David Etzioni, the most prominent candidate after him, is blowing his neck with 21.9% of the Haifa votes.
"We won the first round by a huge margin, and I intend to increase it and complete a sweeping victory in the second round," said Yahav.
"Our Haifa faction is the largest faction in the city council. It will allow me to establish a broad and stable coalition, and lead in the next five years a process of major reform in Haifa, which will bring with it great hope and growth momentum to our city."
On the other hand, Etzioni claimed that Yahav, who served as mayor between 2003-2018, "represents everything that has been broken in Haifa for two decades."
He stated: "The city of Haifa must change direction. The combination of a dramatic security threat alongside social and economic weakness is a disaster."
Both candidates claim that a defamation campaign was conducted against them in the period leading up to the elections.
Yona Yahav/courtesy of those photographed, Gvish Media
David Etzioni / Yoav Itiel
The current mayor, Einat Kalish Rotem, won 4.5% of the votes - and admitted her loss.
"I accept the will of the voter and wish success to the city of Haifa and to whoever chooses to stand at its head. May he give and do the best for its residents," she wrote in X.
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