Yitzhak Keshet was elected mayor of Harish for the third time in a row

Yitzhak Keshet won the 2024 elections with a decisive majority of 60% and will serve as the mayor of Harish for the next five years. In the victory speech he said: “They wanted to take us to dark regions and the residents of Harish spoke out loud. We want to live together here. Religious, secular and ultra-Orthodox, we are all together. We will not allow anyone to separate us.”

The incumbent mayor Yitzhak Keshet He won the trust of the majority of the city’s residents and continues for a third term, for five more years. According to the data of the Ministry of the Interior and after counting 100% of the polling stations in the city, Keshet won a majority of 60.5% From the votes of the voters vs Yohai Fergiewho won the trust of39.5% Only a percentage of the voters’ votes.

The percentage of voting in Harish amounted to51.3%and is higher than the national turnout in the second round of mayoral elections that took place in 35 municipalities, and amounted to46.1% only.

These results bring to an end an election campaign that was sleepy during the months of the war but has deteriorated in the last two weeks into serious accusations, mutual slanders, racist campaigns and the slandering of both candidates.

At the victory celebrations that took place last night in the city hall square, with the participation of dozens of activists and his coalition partners, Keshet noted: “We went through a long and arduous journey. Our city was in deep turmoil. No one imagined what districts we would end up in. We had difficult experiences, they wanted to take us to dark districts and the residents of Harish said They say it out loud.

“We want to live together here. Religious, secular and ultra-Orthodox, we are all together. We will not allow anyone to separate us. This city will not go anywhere extreme, neither here nor there. We will blossom this city together, we will grow this city and bring it to prosperity together”.

Fergie called to congratulate Keshet

Yohai Ferji called to wish the elected mayor good luck. In the closing speech at the activists’ headquarters, he noted that “we brought an amazing result. We worked with a tiny budget but with a very big spirit. We are not going out as defeated, but finishing with our heads held high, we ran a crazy campaign of courage and determination. A campaign full of heart and soul, a whole bunch of brave volunteers with one goal Before their eyes – to promote Harish.

“From tomorrow the real work begins – to continue promoting the goals for which we set out and to act with all our might out of great faith in our path and in the great gospel that we brought to plowing.”

The secular voice prevailed

Yitzhak Keshet (44) has lived in Harish for many years and is part of the settlement nucleus of the old settlement in the city. With the significant changes that took place and the transformation of the small settlement into a new city, Keshet ran for mayor and in the two previous elections (2013, 2018) he won with a considerable majority already in the first round of elections. In the current elections, he failed in the first round to win more than 40% of the voters’ votes and had to compete in another round of elections, against Yohai Ferji.

In the period of time that passed between the first round elections and the second election date, Keshet signed coalition agreements with The liberal parties, Harish Beitno, Otzma Leharish and Beit Tovwho charted the path the city would take and largely ensured its liberal character.

This move also helped him win the “floating vote”, about 4,000 voters, most of them from the secular sector, who did not choose him or Farji in the first round of elections. As part of the distribution of roles in the coalition headed by Keshet, and according to the coalition agreements that were signed, Shani Greenberg, head of the Liberal faction, will serve as his deputy and as his replacement. Idit Yantov, head of the Harish Beytinu faction, will serve as deputy mayor in the first half of the term and will be replaced by Moshe Ben Zikri, head of the Otzma Laharish faction, in the second half.

Harish embarks on another chapter of five years during which she must face the significant challenges facing her in the fields of employment, transportation, security and education and the core issues regarding the management of common life in the city.

The signed agreements: Likud and Harish Beytinu / Likud and Otzma Laharish / Likud and the Liberals

For further reading: Meet: these are the new council members of Harish for the years 2024-2028