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UTJ Satisfied with Overall Election Results
Despite some prominent disappointments — notably the
loss of the mayoralty of Jerusalem — UTJ leaders were
satisfied with their achievements throughout the country.
Even in Jerusalem, the party itself garnered 25 percent more
votes than in the previous election only 5 years ago.
The municipal elections in Jerusalem brought a painful and
worrisome upset. The chareidi public lost the Mayor's Office
when Nir Barkat won the post with a margin of 19,000 votes.
The UTJ list for the city council again won the largest
number of seats, making it the largest party on the city
council. The vote grew by more than 10,000 votes, but it will
now have only eight seats instead of nine because of the high
overall voter turnout.
In the City of Bnei Brak the elections administrator and
members of the Municipal Elections Committee met on Election
Day to announce the election of Rabbi Asher as mayor and the
25 people on the Central Torah List as the 25 members of the
new city council.
UTJ mobilized enormous support around the country on Election
Day, as voters turned out in droves to sanction the Name of
Heaven by casting their ballots for the United Torah Judaism
list and working to promote the party, following calls by
maranan verabonon, including Maran HaRav Eliashiv
shlita, who even instructed yeshiva students to make
every effort to increase the vote.
At the behest of gedolei Yisroel, including Maran
HaRav Eliashiv shlita, Vaadat Rabbonim LeInyonei
Chinuch will join forces with the Union of Yeshiva Managers
to counter a provocative petition to block funding of
talmudei Torah.
President Elect Barak Obama appointed Congressman Rahm
Emanuel (D-Illinois), who was born to Israeli emigrants, as
White House Chief of Staff. After hesitations because of the
strain the job would place on his family, Emanuel notified
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that he had decided to take on the
job. He currently represents Illinois' 5th congressional
district, which covers much of the north side of Chicago and
parts of suburban Cook County.
Throughout the Jewish world, memorial events were held to
mark 70 years since the infamous pogrom known as
Kristallnacht, during which 91 Jews were killed, over 1,000
botei knesses were torched and 7,500 Jewish-owned
businesses were ransacked and looted. Some 30,000 Jewish men
and children were arrested on the night of the pogrom,
November 9-10, 1938, and sent to camps.
At its weekly cabinet meeting the government approved the
appointment of Tel Aviv-Jaffa Chief Rabbi Yisroel Meir Lau as
head of the Yad Vashem Council in place of Yosef (Tommy)
Lapid, who passed away five months ago.
EARLIER EDITORIALS
A Mission to Spread Daas Torah
Looking for the Best in Yiddishkeit
The Immorality of Palestinian Combatants and Noncombatants
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