Beit Shemesh – Mayoral candidate Eli Cohen adjured a poorly attended rally Monday night that the only way to defeat “extremism” in the city was to ensure mass turn-out in the upcoming repeat municipal elections.
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“Only if all of us, all the residents of Beit Shemesh, will come and vote will be able to defeat the extremism that has taken control of the city,” said Cohen to the crowd of several hundred city residents.
The repeat elections are now scheduled for March 11, after the Supreme Court last week refused to overrule an earlier Jerusalem District Court decision which said that the municipal elections of October were invalid due to evidence of systematic fraud.
“Last week, you, we and the entire Jewish people defeated falsehood and deceit and got a second opportunity to win through truth and integrity,” said Cohen, urging his supporters through much the rest of his speech to get out the vote on election day.
Such is the communal balance in the city that the election will likely hinge on the ability of either side to sufficiently motivate their respective constituencies.
However, the turnout to Monday’s rally was significantly smaller than the previous demonstrations staged in protest at what was then suspected electoral fraud, before the courts called for a new election.
And several national politicians, including Bayit Yehudi chairman and Minister for the Economy Naftali Bennett, Housing Minister Uri Ariel and Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon of Likud, among others, took to the podium to urge the residents of Beit Shemesh to vote on election day.
“No one has the right not to go to the polling stations, no one has the right not to bring their friends and family out to vote as well, said Bennett, whose party officially endorsed Cohen’s campaign in the original elections as well as the repeat poll.
The Bayit Yehudi leader called for “a revolution of tolerance” in the city, and said that Beit Shemesh should be “a sanctification of God’s name, not a desecration, a place of spreading the light, not a place of fraud.”
Housing Minister Ariel referenced one of the most contentious issues in the city, that of housing construction for different communal sectors.
Non-haredi politicians, activists and residents have in recent years alleged that large-scale housing projects in the city have frequently been purpose-built for the haredi community which has totally changed the communal make-up of the city.
“Eli Cohen will bring about the best possible Beit Shemesh, a city for all, in which there will be no chance that the Housing Ministry and the mayor will not build for everyone,” said Ariel.
“All of the communities here can live together in the same place. Our children need to stay in Beit Shemesh, whether they wear knitted yarmulkes, black yarmulkes, or none at all,” he continued, while repeating the importance of getting out the vote to ensure a Cohen victory.
Content is provided courtesy of the Jerusalem Post
I wish him lots of Hatzlacha, I hope he wins.
The writer of the article is obviously biased against Eli Cohen. From what I can see from the picture, it don’t look at all like it was poorly attended.
From what I hear, even most of the the chareidim are voting for Eli Cohen.
just like in the goyish media there is a liberal bias in the charedi media there is a charedi bias, this huge chillul hashem of vote tampering and cheating was supported by the charedi press, hopefully this time Eli Cohen will win and clean up Bet Shemesh
So glad the fraud was proven to be such and there will be a new election. How will they counter possible fraud this time?
I live in Ramat Bet Shemesh. I hope Eli Cohen wins, we need honesty & transparency. The Iriya (City Council) is out of control, going after people who bought homes in good faith that 5 years ago had “illegal” extensions that they didn’t know about. Imagine NYC fining people tens of thousands of dollars AND making them tear down the changes! Abutbol is corrupt. I just hope that after he wins, Mr. Cohen will stick to his word & treat ALL residents fairly, with common sense.
Here in RBS I don’t hear too much about the elections at the moment. Old banners are still up, but people are quiet. I didn’t know there was a pro-Cohen demonstration & I think that’s the reason it was poorly attended. You need to get the word out, to Israeli, French & English speaking residents. And don’t forget the large Ethopian population in BS. ALL votes (legal ones!) will count. Good luck, Mr. Cohen – maybe YOUR “hope & change” will work!
I hope he losses wife a landslide. It will be a big kiddush hashem when he will lose again. This eli cohen is a mecallel shabbate befaresya & you guys supporting him.?!?! Shame on you…