Dozens of hareidi religious Jerusalem activists battled policemen while trying to prevent voters from reaching polling stations in what TIME magazine called a "bizarre election." The battle took place in the Beit Israel neighborhood of the capital and involved rival religious groups.
At least one policeman suffered head wounds from stone throwers, one of whom was arrested.
As of 6 p.m., turnout was only 26 percent, indicating a rough time for Nir Barkat, a high-tech multi millionaire. Religious candidate and former Knesset Member Meir Porush is expected to have an advantage if the secular community splits its vote between Barkat and Russian-born billionaire Arcadi Gaydamak.
The election is indeed "bizarre." Gaydamak is counting on Arab votes, but eastern Jerusalem Arabs have all but boycotted the polling stations. He also suffered a setback in his hopes that a recent soccer game would be won by Beitar Jerusalem, the soccer team he owns, and would spur people to vote for him.
HaPoel Tel Aviv defeated Beitar, leaving the Gaydamak team's fans disgusted "with the team and its owner," TIME reported. "Around town, posters of Gaydamak, whose thin face has a Transylvanian pallor, sprouted Dracula fangs," the magazine reported.
The election not only pits secular Jews against religious Jews but also has split the religious community, with many national religious Zionists campaigning for Barkat. Part of their reasoning is that the secular candidate will be in a better position to fight for keeping the capital undivided, a platform that all three candidates share.
Ger hasidim are either boycotting the vote or voting for Barkat rather than supporting Porush.
Gaydamak's entry into the race added color to the campaign. He speaks English in interviews because his Hebrew is virtually non-existent. Gaydamak has promised that no more parades of homosexuals will take place in Jerusalem if he is elected mayor. He also said that terrorism can be stopped by allocating more funds and projects for the Arab sector.
However, virtually all of eastern Jerusalem's 180,000 Arab residents followed leaders' orders to stay away from the polling stations.
"It’s forbidden for us as Arabs in Jerusalem [to vote] for the municipality," said senior Muslim cleric Sheikh Ishaq Taha because the Palestinian Authority claims sovereignty over eastern Jerusalem, where it intends to place its capital for a new Arab state.
TIME reported, "On the Arab side of town, election day usually starts with a sickening ritual: the few brave voters who appear are beaten up by Palestinian militants. Word of the attacks then spreads swiftly around East Jerusalem, and other Arabs stay away."
Balloting will continue until 10 p.m. (3 p.m. EST) and tallying the results is expected to continue until the wee hours of the morning. The current head of the city is hareidi orthodox Mayor Uri Lupolianski, the first mayor to be elected from his community. He succeeded Ehud Olmert in 2003.