The local elections are approaching, and while the general public is still relatively quiet, in the ultra-Orthodox community, a bustling election system is emerging. In Bnei Brak, for the first time in three decades, genuine mayoral elections will take place, following Shas's entering the race.
It is now known that the party's candidate, Knesset member Uriel Busso, who was formerly the deputy mayor of Petah Tikva, has changed his address and place of residence to the city where he will compete – Bnei Brak.
Until the recent elections, an agreement was in place, established in the year 5749, following the split of the Haredi party into the factions of Agudat Yisrael - Hasidic and Degel HaTorah - Litvak. According to the agreement, the mayoralty would rotate between the factions in each term. The Shas faction remained outside the agreement due to the small number of Sephardic residents in the city. However, in the current system, they have decided otherwise.
Shas decides to go for the whole jackpot
Within Shas, they are capitalizing on the growing disappointment among the residents of Bnei Brak with the current leadership, which is confident that the mayoralty is in its hands. The leadership's efforts to curb this phenomenon are sluggish. In the campaign launch, Bosso stated, "What is due to the residents of Jerusalem and Petah Tikva is due to the residents of Bnei Brak. We deserve a clean city. We deserve a well-maintained city. We deserve a city without rats and sewage pools. We deserve a quality of life. We are not second-class citizens."
At first, they belittled Bosso's candidacy and claimed that his candidacy was a farcical move intended to pressure the Ashkenazi parties and force them into compromises regarding a number of cities across the country. As evidence, they pointed to his non-resignation from the Knesset and his home in Petah Tikva. However, now that he has changed his address and place of residence to the city, it seems that Shas believes in its power and has decided to go all in.