After HaGaon HaRav Shlomo HaKohen Aviner Shlita, and HaGaon HaRav Dov Lior Shlita, prominent poskim in the dati leumi community, announced their support for Minister Ze’ev Elkin in the Jerusalem mayoral race, additional support is announced from rabbonim affiliated with Har HaMor.

Rabbi Yehoshua Zuckerman of Har HaMor has added his name to the kol korei, calling on the dati leumi tzibur to back Elkin. They are confident Jerusalem will blossom with Elkin as mayor.

In his letter of support, Rabbi Zuckerman relates his acquaintance with Elkin: “I have known and cherished Mr. Ze’ev Elkin for many years in particular when he served as Minister of Absorption and as a resident of Eldad Kfar Eldad in the Judean Desert. He is very well thought out, initiates and executes his word, and his goals are certainly national and settlement.”

Rabbi Zuckerman adds that among all the candidates, Elkin is the one who must be elected mayor and calls on the residents of Jerusalem to vote for him: “In light of his in-depth analysis of Jerusalem’s future, he is convinced that the main thing is his human strength – being the Holy City and the capital of the state. In any event, his concern is to populate it with young people from all the sectors that are growing in it.

“In order to do so, we must urgently engage in a lot of construction that will solve the problem of housing prices and allow them to purchase them for young people,” writes Rabbi Zuckerman, adding that “Jerusalem will flourish under his management.

Undoubtedly, the support of these rabbonim signal a division in the dati leumi community, as many will opt to vote for Bayit Yehudi, and others, for the new list headed by Aryeh King. The list also includes a grandson of Maran HaGaon HaRav Ovadia Yosef ZT”L ZY”A; Yonatan Yosef, as well as Deputy Mayor (Ichud Leumi) Dov Kalmanovich.

Elkin continues efforts to receive chareidi support for his race, but to date, the chareidi factions remain non-committal.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)