Elections!

If you read the title, you're probably thinking that I'm going to write about the elections LAST Tuesday in the U.S., but I'm not!

NEXT Tuesday, we have elections here in Israel (all over the country, I believe) for local officials: mayor and city council members. Now this might seem like pretty small potatoes, but we have had huge billboards and many, MANY posters all of town now for MONTHS! Nearly alway, there is the face (usually NOT smiling) of a mayoral candidate or, somewhat more recently, a candidate for city council. There is also generally some kind of slogan. For example, יש תיקווה לצפת yesh tikvah liTsfat "There's hope for Tsfat", or צדק חברתי tzedek chevrati "social justice", or בשביל התושבים bishvil ha-toshavim "For the residents" (the latter being the incumbent mayor's slogan).

In recent days, the number of posters has intensified, naturally. And one can hardly park one's car in any parking lot in town (such as at any market or at the pharmacy) without getting campaign literature on the windshield. People are also handing out materials at the markets, along the streets, and at the Wednesday shuk. It's hard to believe that a mayoral race or a city council race could generate so much campaigning!

As I understand it, we vote directly for the mayor, but for the city council it's like the elections for the Knesset (the national parliament), where we vote for the party we want, and the parties are apportioned seats on the council according to the percentage of votes they get. Anyway, we plan to vote for the only mayoral candidate that I've actually met personally and for his party list, as well. The first person on that list is the builder of our house. On their brochure, which I have in front of me, it says (among other things): עדיין יש עתיד adayn yesh atid "There is still a future" (who knew?!), עיר בשקיעה או עיר בתנופה? ir bishki'a o ir bitnuvah? "A city on the decline or a city with momentum?", and אתה המחליט! atah ha-makhlit! "You (masculine singular!) are the one who decides!".