Peleg supporting Berkovitch

The Peleg Yerushalmi had a serious dilemma what to do in the second round elections in Jerusalem - support Moshe Lion or Ofer Berkovitch. While one might make a slam dunk case for one side and say there is no story here, the dilemma is interesting.

Moshe Lion is a candidate backed by Avigdor Lieberman who has pushed the IDF draft law that would possibly draft an increasing number of yeshiva boys. Ofer Berkovitch is a secular/traditional candidate that has had a hand in bringing/increasing secular culture in Jerusalem and has opposed some Haredi-backed policies.

So what to do? It looks like they are stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Peleg today announced through its newspaper, HaPeles, that everyone must do whatever it can to oppose the candidacy of Moshe Lion and vote against him. They did not explicitly say to vote for Berkovitch, but being that that is the only way to oppose Lion, Peleg is essentially supporting Ofer Berkovitch for mayor of Jerusalem.

I imagine part of the consideration is also to oppose the Degel candidate, as in most cities, especially Jerusalem, Degel and Peleg fight with each other and do whatever they can to hurt the other.

It still sounds funny for the Litvish extremists who can often be found in the streets protesting, sometimes violently, to be supporting the secular/traditional candidate as the way to "bolster the holiness of Jerusalem". 

sources: Kikar and Actualic

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