Deputy Mayor Yigal Amedi of the Likud, who is running behind independent candidate Nir Barkat in the mayoral race in Jerusalem, told Arutz-7 today that he doesn't believe in the polls, but "rather in hard work, and in the good judgment of the citizens of Jerusalem, who want to see a man with both the experience and ability to carry out the programs that this city needs." Amedi served as Deputy Mayor under ex-Mayor Ehud Olmert for nearly ten years, and was asked if he does not think that the city's large hareidi public - which was well-served by Olmert when he was Mayor, but then felt betrayed by him when he helped run the national government coalition negotiations - might vote against the candidate associated with Olmert. "They won't want to punish themselves twice," Amedi said, "first in the government, and then by not having me as Mayor."
Amedi acknowledged that the hareidi candidate, Acting Mayor Uri Lopoliansky, "is a talented man, but I think that what this city needs now is someone who can unite its various sectors, and I, as the head of the committee to maintain the status quo, and as one who has worked for this cause for several years, can do that." Asked why the city is not clean, Amedi said that this is caused by the burst of development that Jerusalem is undergoing. "Everyone who fixes up his house knows that it causes a mess, but in the end, Jerusalemites know that it will help them." Among the projects is the train system, the first route of which will be ready to run from N'vei Yaakov to central Jerusalem in the beginning of 2006.