10-24-2013 Jerusalem, Saved

OCTOBER 24, 2013, New York Times

Shmuel Rosner

JERUSALEM — The slang word “combina” entered the Hebrew language from Ladino, the tongue of Jews of Spanish origin. A combina is a clever dirty deal — a word at times used in admiration, at times used in disdain. When it was announced Wednesday morning that the mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat, was re-elected to a second five-year term by a small majority, the response of Israelis was nearly unanimous: his victory came from a combina that failed.

The story of this election lies in the dealing within the opposition. The two politicians that sent Moshe Lion, Barkat’s opponent, into battle — the former foreign minister and leader of the ultranationalist Yisrael Beiteinu political faction, Avigdor Lieberman, and the head of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, Aryeh Deri — were the real losers. The alliance between a staunchly secular leader like Lieberman and a prominent religious figure like Deri was puzzling.

Barkat, 54, who made a fortune in the high-tech industry, works hard to make Jerusalem — an impossible mix of Jews and Arabs, secular and ultra-Orthodox Jews, rich and poor, messianic and middle class — a habitable place for all. Like his opponent Lion, Barkat is a man of the right wing. And he has always been willing to cater to the vast ultra-Orthodox community. Lion didn’t have much better conservative credentials.

The reason Lieberman and Deri backed Lion remains a mystery. We’re left to assume it was an attempted power grab by two shrewd national politicians. They planned to beat the mayor by cutting a deal with the Haredi, or ultra-Orthodox, community. Deri believed his connections with Haredi leaders would have made victory possible, and that the promise of an even friendlier mayor would sway the wider community. The Orthodox make-up 32 percent of Jerusalem’s Jewish population, and in many cases vote as a block for the candidate their rabbis endorse (most Jerusalem Arabs boycott the race).

Yet the Haredim are no longer as unified as they used to be. And like other residents, many ultra-Orthodox Jerusalemites — and their rabbis — didn’t see much reason to replace Barkat. Moreover, the alliance between Lieberman and Deri — two wily politicians both known for having trouble with the law (Deri was once jailed for corruption, Lieberman is on trial for alleged fraud) — frightened modern Orthodox and secular voters and pushed them toward Barkat.

The result is good news for Jerusalem, a place in need of some measure of Barkat-style normalcy. He’s a mayor who seemingly knows how to contain corruption and maintain order. Most of all, he is not a pawn of other politicians or the servant of mysterious interests.

Barkat’s re-election is good news for Israel. The country needs a vibrant capital, a city that isn’t a chip on some politician’s gambling table. Moreover, Lieberman and Deri are national leaders, and one hopes that their failure in the municipal sphere will convince them to refrain from similar antics in the national arena.

Some combinas just don’t fly.

Source: http://latitude.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/24/jerusalem-saved/?ref=opinion