Ali Salaam
Ali SalaamFlash 90

The heads of the Labor-Hatnua list, Yitzhak Herzog and Tzipi Livni, were supposed to visit Nazareth last week, but the visit was cancelled at the last minute, after Mayor Ali Salam's office told the candidates he was ill.

Army Radio reported Monday that the planned visit had been accompanied by heated controversy in Nazareth. Supporters of the United Arab List did not want the duo to visit, while others opposed the name the list has chosen – “The Zionist Camp” – and the decision by Labor's campaign managers to focus on a nationalist audience.

Herzog and Livni said that the visit was called off because of the mayor's illness and that they would be glad to visit any city in Israel. Salam confirmed to Army Radio that he is sick and stressed that there has not been any pressure on him to cancel the visit.

He did not, however, say if an alternative date for the visit had been set. Army Radio noted that there have been attempts to set a new date, but they have not yielded results.