Protests as Druze vote in Israeli local elections

JERUSALEM: Israelis voted in local elections yesterday that saw an ally of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vie for Jerusalem mayor and controversial first-time polls in part of the occupied Golan Heights that drew protests.

Polling stations opened as scheduled at 7am and were due to close at 10pm.

Main results were not expected until Wednesday.

Elections for mayors and councils, held every five years, are seen as largely local affairs with few national implications, though they have served as a springboard for politicians harbouring national ambitions.

One significant new element to Tuesday’s vote saw minority Druze cast ballots in the Golan Heights for the first time since Israel seized the strategic region from Syria in 1967.

The vote was controversial since many Druze who feel connected to Syria fear it will help Israel legitimise its control over the region.

Several hundred protesters in the village of Majdal Shams, some carrying Syrian flags, temporarily blocked a polling centre as police sought to maintain calm, an AFP correspondent reported. There had been calls to boycott the election during campaigning and a string of candidates pulled out.

Polling was to occur in four Druze villages in the Golan, though it was called off in two because there were no candidates.

The elections followed a court challenge by a group of Druze who pressed for the right to hold the vote.

Israel has previously appointed local leaders in the villages.

The international community has never recognised Israel’s annexation of the Golan.