Arcadi Gaydamak, next mayor of Jerusalem?
Photo: Gil Yochanan
Gaydamak woos Arab vote
Mayoral candidate Arcadi Gaydamak places ad in Arabic-language newspaper promising east Jerusalem residents 'social justice for all' in hopes of winning Arab vote ahead of elections
Israeli businessman Arcadi Gaydamak is going after the Arab vote in east Jerusalem in hopes that it will bring him the win for the city's mayor in next week's elections.
Full-page ads have been placed in the Arabic language daily al-Quds urging east Jerusalem Palestinians to vote for "Gaydamak – a different kind of candidate" and promise "social justice for all."
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The billionaire, who employs a team of advisors in Jerusalem, also published his policies on the Arab residents of east Jerusalem in his ads.
And that's not all – as part of his campaign, the candidate also showed up to watch the Palestinian national soccer team's first home game last week, and sat in the VIP section with Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and Jibril Rajoub.
East Jerusalem sources estimated that Gaydamak may get some of the Arab votes in the city, but added that the voting rate among the city's Arabs would be particularly low.
Palestinian leaders in Ramallah and Jerusalem have called on Jerusalem's Arabs to boycott the municipal elections. Hatem Abdel Kader, Fayyad's advisor on Jerusalem affairs, has also urged those who have submitted their candidacy to withdraw.
Zoher Hamdan, who is running as the head of an Arab party, told Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper on Sunday that mayoral candidates have been courting him and asking him to join their lists.
"I would agree to join a Jewish roster, even if it was headed by an extremist candidate, if it was for the good of the city, and under the condition that the candidate announces in public that he plans to cancel all of the thousands of demolition orders on houses in the eastern part of the city," Hamdan said.
