Jerusalem's Mayor-elect Nir Barkat has threatened to "take down the bridge" - the new Bridge of Strings at the city's main entrance - if necessary.
In the video insert below, see Barkat on the day following his victory
Speaking at a press conference at the King David Hotel on Wednesday night, Barkat said, "In Israel's poorest city, the money must be invested in education, culture, cleanliness - and not in bridges. I will check the costs of running and maintaining it, and if they are not justified, I'll make sure to take it down. I don't know anyone who wants to remain in Jerusalem just because of the bridge."
The new Bridge of Strings and light-rail project, already under years of construction, continues to cause major traffic problems. Barkat said that he would set up an independent committee to see if the long delayed light-rail system, now scheduled for completion in about 2-3 years, is the best way to serve the city's transportation needs. "There are modern technologies that can provide other options that are just as good," he said.
Also at the press conference, Barkat thanked the three leading candidates for Prime Minister - Binyamin Netanyahu, Tzipi Livni, and Ehud Barak - for calling to congratulate him. "I asked each of them to truly enlist to maintain and preserve a strong Jerusalem, both nationally and internationally," Barkat said. "Strengthening Jerusalem is a first-degree national mission."
He said he has already met with outgoing Mayor Uri Lupoliansky - who did not run for re-election - in preparation for his taking office several weeks from now. He currently has up to two months to form a coalition in the 31-member City Council. The coalition, built around the six members of his own party, is almost certain to include the eight hareidi-religious United Torah Judaism faction members, possibly the three members of the National Religious Party, and at least one or two more parties.
Barkat assured the city's hareidi residents that they have nothing to fear, that "I will not overturn everything tomorrow morning," and that he plans to be a mayor for everyone, "secular, religious, hareidi, Arab and everyone else... The status quo in religious affairs will remain."
Earlier on Wednesday, Barkat visited the Western Wall, where he was greeted happily and with hugs by religious-Zionist and hareidi-religious rabbis, as well as by Natan Sharansky.
A hi-tech businessman whose worth is estimated at 450 million shekels, Barkat left his private ventures five years ago to run for mayor. He lost his first bid to Lupoliansky, but, thanks to a concerted bid for religious-Zionist support, as well as a strong call to the secular public to "get out and vote," he won the mayoralty this week.
"Jerusalem's strength lies in its ability to unite people," Barkat said, "religious and secular, Jews and Arabs, Israelis and people from around the world... I see myself as a link in a chain; over 3,000 years ago, just a few hundred meters away from here, King David established the capital of the Israeli Kingdom, and my job as I receive this deposit for the next five years is to upgrade the city and pass it over in better shape to those who will come after me."