According to all estimates over 1,500 people took part in a Tuesday evening protest outside Beit Shemesh City Hall, demanding new elections.
Most of the residents taking part in the protest appeared to be from the dati leumi and non-religious communities, but there is more than a small number of chareidim who feel that if last week’s election was fraudulent another round of voting is in order.
Following the release of the comprehensive Maariv report, it is becoming increasingly evident that there was foul play. MK Dov Lipman and Deputy Minister Tzipi Hotevely have already called on Interior Minister Gideon Saar to call for new elections in the city.
The matter of possible election fraud has already been handed over to Israel Police and the Lahav 443 unit is launching an investigation. In all likelihood if police feel there was foul play, a new election will be held in the city.
In a related matter, six of the seven suspects who were held in detention for allegedly making fraudulent identity cards for the election have been released to house arrest with restrictions. Kikar Shabbat reports one of those suspects is the son of a “prominent chareidi member of Knesset”.
Many feel that for Beit Shemesh this is more than just determining who will be the mayor, but it is a battle for the future identity of the city which is becoming increasingly chareidi with each new apartment sold. Opponents of Mayor Moshe Abutbul would like new elections in the hope of unseating him as the main contender, Likud’s Eli Cohen, lost the election by less than 1,000 votes.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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11 Responses
So the Israelis are aspiring to imitate the Democrats in American. Well, in all fairness Tammany Hall and the Daley Machine were always big supporters of Israel.
Sounds like it would be in everyone’s best interests to have election results that no one has questions about.
Of course the sour losers are all sour grapes and want a do-ever since they lost.
Even if the allegations of fraud the losers are throwing around were true, what they are alleging is materially less than the Mayor’s margin of victory.
Fraud? Baloney! Chilonim cannot swallow their loss to a charedi once again. Had a charedi won in Yerushalayim, chilonim would yell ‘fraud’ too.
If any election should be redone, it’s national election to replace those destroyers of Israel and yiddishkeit.
#3 and #4
Let’s do some math.
There were between 600 – 850 ballots for Eli Cohen that were thrown out because they were crumpled or in some way marked. In a city with about 40k votes, that number is high.
There were 200 fake or illegal teudot zehut found in a chareidi apartment – those votes weren’t going to Eli Cohen.
There were multiple reports of people being turned away for having already voted when they hadn’t. A worker at the polls was taken away for tampering with Eli Cohen ballots.
The official difference between the two candidates was about 850 votes. The discounted votes alone could have swung the election. All of the other events, together with the tampered ballots more than cover the difference between the two candidates.
THE REAL STORY
The reason people are so worked up over every vote is because of how dirty this election was. We got daily letters from the parties full of outright sheker. Lies I know firsthand to be untrue.
The lies were sensational and offensive. Unfortunately they also often came from people claiming to be frum.
This is why people are so worked up.
any proof to your 600+ thrown out ballots??!! Why not stop it before it hit the garbage??!! Words and rumors are free. Sore losers. Or clueless America isreali trying to hard.
#5
a) There were less than 600 – 850 ballots for Eli Cohen that were thrown out.
b) The number that were thrown out is statistically in the same range as previous Beit Shemesh mayoral elections, including five years ago.
c) The official difference was just short of 1,000 votes, not “about 850 votes.”
jdb “There were 200 fake or illegal teudot zehut found in a chareidi apartment” There’s absolutely no proof that they were used, and even if they were used, there’s no way of knowing whom they voted for. Besides, I heard there were only a few illegal t.z. found not 200 the way the media likes to blow things out of proportion. Don’t believe everything you hear from anti-charedi media.
“There were multiple reports of people being turned away for having already voted when they hadn’t.”
This does also not mean that it was against Cohen.
You have a hard time believing the truth that chilonim are sour losers. A miracle they didn’t want a reelection last time. Maybe it’s because they didn’t have so much power since the rasha was not yet in control.
I don’t get the issue. The goyim (okay, they’re mainly frei Jews, but they act and think like goyim) are constantly complaining that frum Jews don’t know how to function in the modern world. You see now a wonderful example of how hareidim have learned from the best – after all, Obama himself is a product of the well renowned Chicago machine. They want hareidim to act like “normal” people. Is there something abnormal about Democratic politics in the USA? The hilonim should be careful what they wish for.
Maybe if there are new elections, the Gedolim can tell people to vote, but only vote once and use only your own Identity card. Because let’s face it, it creates an enormous Chillul Hashem when frum Jews get caught doing fraud. Basic law in the Torah, Mi Dvar Sheker Tirchak.
The whole situation in Beit Shemesh has turned into a massive Chilul Hashem. The incidents of blatant fraud being reported, carried out by supposed “Chareidim leDvar Hashem”, has soiled the reputation of Frum Jews everywhere. Those Rabbonim – yes, ALL THE RABBONIM – who sanctioned such acts – or who are merely silent about them – are complicit in their actions and deserve their share of the blame.
“B’makom Chilul Hashem, EIN CHOLKIN KAVOD L’RAV”!!!!!
an Israeli Yid