JERUSALEM (AP) — Israelis are choosing their mayors in dozens of locations across the country, with the main focus on the largest city of Jerusalem.
Tuesday's vote marks the second round of municipal elections in cities where no candidate secured at least 40 percent support in the Oct. 30 vote. The closest watched runoff race is in Jerusalem, Israel's proclaimed capital and a place of pilgrimage for billions around the world.
The race features Moshe Lion, a longtime political fixture backed by much of the country's top leadership, against Ofer Berkovitch, a young secular activist pushing a progressive agenda against religious hard-liners.
Jerusalem is also Israel's poorest city. Its diverse population is split nearly evenly between Palestinians Arabs, ultra-Orthodox Jews and the rest of the Jewish residents — both secular and observant.
