A pro-Jewish group called My House, which promotes Carmiel as a Jewish city, won three of 17 seats on the local council in this week's elections. The opposing "Carmiel is for All of Us" group, which ran with a joint Jewish-Arab list, barely attracted any support.
One of the slogans used by the five-month old My House party was "my house is not for sale," referring to a campaign urging Jews not to sell their houses to Arabs. Carmiel was created with a mandate to be a Jewish city in the Galilee, which is dominated by Arab and Druze villages.
Jewish residents of Carmiel and other mixed cities say Arabs often offer more than the selling price of apartments—sometimes more than double the price—to buy housing in Jewish buildings. They then work to bring property values down, and soon many other Arab families buy in the now-cheap area, residents say.
The mixed neighborhoods experience tension and often violence. Many Jews in Akko, Ramle, Lod, Yafo and other mixed cities have accused Arabs of vandalism, harassment and physical attack. Tensions in mixed cities increased five weeks ago after Arabs in the mixed city of Akko carried out a pogrom on the Yom Kippur holiday, smashing Jewish cars and businesses and screaming “Death to the Jews.”
Israel Is Our Home (Yisrael Beiteinu) Councilwoman Rina Greenberg stated, "We are a small community, and we want to preserve our traditions… Just as Arab boys marry Arab girls, we want our boys to marry our girls."
Greenberg is a former Kadima supporter who has switched to Israel Is Our Home. She won 42 percent of the vote in the race for mayor, but lost to incumbent Adi Eldar, associated with Labor and Kadima.
However, observers said that Eldar may accept a position as head of Mifal HaPayis, a move that would require him to step down as mayor. Greenberg's impressive support has made her a potential candidate for a senior position on the Knesset list of Israel Is Our Home.