Elections are held in Haifa to elect the city's mayor. Currently, such elections are regularly scheduled to elect mayors to five-year terms.

Prior to 1978, mayors were selected by a vote of the city council. Since 1978, direct elections have been held for mayor.[1]

1978

The 1978 Haifa mayoral election was held on 7 November 1978,[2] and saw the election Aryeh Gur'el.

1978 Haifa mayoral election results[2]
Candidate Party Votes %
Aryeh Gur'el Labor 46,450 50.66
Amnon Linn 23,060 25.15
Zvi Zimmerman 15,771 17.20
Moshe Rofe 6,407 6.99
Total 91,688 100

1983

The 1983 Haifa mayoral election was held on 25 October 1983,[3] and saw the reelection Aryeh Gur'el.

Gur'el's strongest opponent was Yael Rom, a pioneering female pilot in the Israeli Air Force. While she was a member of Likud, Rom ran for mayor in affiliation with an independent party list that was running in the coinciding city council elections.[4]

1983 Haifa mayoral election results[3]
Candidate Party Votes %
Aryeh Gur'el (incumbent) Labor 58,521 63.36
Yael Rom 16,342 17.69
Yom Tov Elkayam 8,162 8.84
Yehudit Naot Shinui 6,166 6.68
Nahum Menachem 3,169 3.43
Total 92,360 100

1989

The 1989 Haifa mayoral election was held on 28 February 1989,[5] and saw the reelection Aryeh Gur'el to a third consecutive term.

1989 Haifa mayoral election results[5]
Candidate Party Votes %
Aryeh Gur'el (incumbent) Labor 42,217 42.31
Rami Dotan Likud 38,292 38.38
Yehudit Naot Shinui 12,917 12.94
Pinhas Narkis 4,154 4.16
Shlom Azulay 2,203 2.21
Total 99,783 100

1993

The 1993 Haifa mayoral election was held on 2 November 1993,[6] and saw the election of Amram Mitzna.

Labor Party primary

In the primary election for the Israeli Labor Party nomination, third-term incumbent mayor Aryeh Gur'el was defeated by challenger Amram Mitzna.[7]

Mitzna won 63% of the vote to Gur'el's 37% in the primary, held on May 18, 1993.[7] The primary campaign between the two had been tense.[7]

After losing the primary, Gur'el announced that he would consider running in the general election as an independent candidate.[7]

General election

Since Haifa was considered a stronghold of the Labor Party, Mitzna entered the general election as its front-runner.[7]

1993 Haifa mayoral election results[6]
Candidate Party Votes %
Amram Mitzna Labor 50,269 58.66
Narkis Pinchas 14,249 16.63
Avraham Golhand 10,996 12.83
Moses Statman 6,730 7.85
Yehudit Naot 3,456 4.03
Total 85,700 100

1998

The 1998 Haifa mayoral election was held on 10 November 1998,[8] and saw the reelection Amram Mitzna.[9]

1998 Haifa mayoral election results[8]
Candidate Party Votes %
Amram Mitzna (incumbent) Labor 56,912 64.07
Ed Amom 13,985 15.74
Shmuel Gelbart 9,242 10.40
Rami Levy 6,502 7.32
Shlomo Atari 1,492 1.68
Pinhas Narkis 697 0.79
Total 88,830 100

2003

The 2003 Haifa mayoral election was held on 28 October 2003 to elect the mayor of Haifa. It saw the election of Yona Yahav.

The election marked the first time that the Israeli Labor Party lost control of Haifa's mayoralty, as it and its predecessors had run the city since the 1940s.[10] Haifa had been considered the party's most consistent stronghold.[10] Labor was without a candidate, after their nominee, Aliza Shenhar, having poor support, dropped-out of the race three days before the election and endorsed Yahav.[10] Yahav, who had formerly been a Labor member of the Knesset, ran a campaign affiliated with Shinui-Greens-Neighborhoods Union, which also ran a party list in the city council.[10][11][12] Yahav had originally pursued Labor's nomination.[10]

Likud nominee, retired general Shmuel Arad, had been considered the front-runner of the election.[10] Arad received a greater vote share than any previous Likud mayoral candidate had ever received in Haifa.[10] He had been expected to perform strongly in the city after Labor had Likud placed first in the city in the preceding 2003 Israeli legislative election, the first time in its history that the party had done so.[10]

2003 Haifa mayoral election results[13]
Candidate Votes %
Yona Yahav 41,644 51.88%
Shmuel Arad 34,412 42.87%
Shimon Ohayon 1,217 1.55%
Total 77,237 100

2008

The 2008 Haifa mayoral election was held on 11 November 2008 to elect the mayor of Haifa. It saw the reelection of Yona Yahav.

It was part of the 2008 Israeli municipal elections. Yahav defeated challenger Ya'acov Borovsky.

2008 Haifa mayoral election results[14]
Candidate Votes %
Yona Yahav (incumbent) 42,192 47.1%
Ya'acov Borovsky 33,251 37.1%
Israel Ya'akov Savyon 3,623 4.0%
Rami Levy 3,259 3.6%
Walid Hamis 2,811 3.1%
Shmuel Glabhart 2,685 3.0%
Boris Lazarav 1,786 2.0%
Total 89,607 100

2013

The 2013 Haifa mayoral election was held on 22 October 2013 to elect the mayor of Haifa. It saw the reelection of Yona Yahav to a third consecutive term.

It was part of the 2013 Israeli municipal elections.

The city saw turnout exceeding 40%.[15]

2013 Haifa mayoral election results[16]
Candidate Votes %
Yona Yahav (incumbent) 40,077 49.01%
Yaakov Borowski 24,214 29.61%
Einat Kalisch-Rotem 11,607 14.19%
Itay Glboa 4,509 5.51%
Zeev Silas 1,374 1.68%
Total 81,781 100

2018

Main article: 2018 Haifa mayoral election

The 2018 Haifa mayoral election was held on 30 October 2018 to elect the mayor of Haifa. It saw the election of Einat Kalisch-Rotem, who unseated incumbent mayor Yona Yahav. Kalisch-Rotem would become the first female mayor of Haifa, making Haifa the largest city in Israel, and first major Israeli city, to ever have a female mayor.[17][18]

The election was part of the 2018 Israeli municipal elections.

Candidates

Results

Candidate Party name Votes %
Einat Kalisch-Rotem Living in Haifa חיים בחיפה‎, Haim BeHeifa 66,486 56.21%
Yona Yahav (incumbent) Yona Yahav and Haifa's Youth יונה יהב וצעירי חיפה‎, Yona Yahav VeTze'irei Heifa 43,907 37.12%
Avihu Han Haifa Greens הירוקים של חיפה‎, HaYerukim Shel Heifa 3,787 3.20%
Mendi Salzmann Haifa Awakens חיפה מתעוררת‎, Heifa Mit'oreret 2,585 2.19%
Israel Ya'akov Savyon Lovers of Haifa אוהבי חיפה‎, Ohavei Heifa 1,506 1.27%
Source: Ministry of the Interior[21]

References

  1. ^ Blander, Dana. "Elections for the Local Authority – Who, What, When, Where and How?". en.idi.org.il. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
  2. ^ a b "רשומות ילקוט הפרסומים" (PDF). www.nevo.co.il. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  3. ^ a b "רשומות ילקוט הפרסומים" (PDF). www.nevo.co.il. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  4. ^ Herzog, Hanna (1999). Gendering politics: women in Israel. University of Michigan. pp. 217–224. ISBN 0-472-10945-6.
  5. ^ a b "רשומות ילקוט הפרסומים" (PDF). www.nevo.co.il. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  6. ^ a b "רשומות ילקוט הפרסומים" (PDF). www.nevo.co.il. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  7. ^ a b c d e "Haifa Mayor Defeated in Primary". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 21 May 1993. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  8. ^ a b "רשומות ילקוט הפרסומים" (PDF). www.nevo.co.il. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  9. ^ "Amram Mitzna". www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h Wohlgelernter, Elli (22 August 2003). "Labor's First Loss in Haifa Produces New Battle Plan". The Jewish Daily Forward. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  11. ^ Chottiner, Lee (26 July 2017). "Haifa mayor touts city, shows concern for Israel's future". Jewish Community of Louisville. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  12. ^ Ratner, David (5 Jun 2003). "Yona Yahav wins Haifa top spot with 52 percent majority". Haaretz. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  13. ^ "תוצאות הבחירות לרשויות המקומיות 2003". www.archives.gov.il (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2022-05-22.
  14. ^ "Results of Haifa Mayoral Election" (PDF). City of Haifa (in Hebrew). 2008-11-11. Retrieved 2022-05-18.
  15. ^ "Yahav retakes Haifa". The Times of Israel. 22 October 2013. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  16. ^ "Haifa Elections MunicipalesMunicipal elections2013". www.haifa-israel.info. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  17. ^ "Haifa elects first woman mayor". Israel National News. JTA. 31 October 2018. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  18. ^ Pfeffer, Anshel (31 October 2018). "Einat Kalisch-Rotem, the first woman to lead a major Israeli city, elected in Haifa". www.thejc.com. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  19. ^ Newman, Marissa (31 October 2018). "In major upset, 3-term Haifa mayor trounced by female rival". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  20. ^ Hoffman, Gil (31 October 2018). "Haifa elects first woman mayor". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  21. ^ "1800 7.11 תוצאות.xlsx". www.moin.gov.il. Ministry of the Interior. 2017. Archived from the original on 21 April 2020.
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