Elections are held in

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...

to elect the city's mayor. Currently, such elections are regularly scheduled to elect mayors to five-year terms. Prior to 1978, mayors were selected by a vote of the city council. Since 1978, direct elections have been held for mayor.

1978

The 1978 Haifa mayoral election was held on 7 November 1978, and saw the election

Aryeh Gur'el Aryeh Gur'el ( he, אריה גוראל, born 20 November 1918, died 28 October 2007) was mayor of Haifa from 1978 to 1993. He was affiliated with the Israeli Labor Party. Gur'el was born in Warsaw, Poland, to parents Moshe and Tzila, and made al ...

1983

The 1983 Haifa mayoral election was held on 25 October 1983, and saw the reelection

. Gur'el's strongest opponent was

Yael Rom Yael Rom ( he, יעל רום; 1932–2006), born Yael Finkelstein, was one of the first female pilots of the Israeli Air Force and the first trained and certified by the force. She was co-pilot of the lead C-47 at the parachute drop at the Mitla ...

, a pioneering female pilot in the

Israeli Air Force The Israeli Air Force (IAF; he, זְרוֹעַ הָאֲוִיר וְהֶחָלָל, Zroa HaAvir VeHahalal, tl, "Air and Space Arm", commonly known as , ''Kheil HaAvir'', "Air Corps") operates as the aerial warfare branch of the Israel Defense ...

. While she was a member of

Likud Likud ( he, הַלִּיכּוּד, HaLikud, The Consolidation), officially known as Likud – National Liberal Movement, is a major centre-right to right-wing political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin and Ariel Sharon ...

, Rom ran for mayor in affiliation with an independent

party list An electoral list is a grouping of candidates for election, usually found in proportional or mixed electoral systems, but also in some plurality electoral systems. An electoral list can be registered by a political party (a party list) or can ...

that was running in the coinciding city council elections.

1989

The 1989 Haifa mayoral election was held on 28 February 1989, and saw the reelection

to a third consecutive term.

1993

The 1993 Haifa mayoral election was held on 2 November 1993, and saw the election of

Amram Mitzna Amram Mitzna ( he, עמרם מצנע, born 20 February 1945) is an Israeli politician and former general in the IDF. He is a former mayor of Haifa (1993–2003) and Yeruham (2005–2010) and led the Labor Party from 2002 to 2003. In 2012 he joine ...

Labor Party primary

In the

primary election Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...

for the

Israeli Labor Party The Israeli Labor Party ( he, מִפְלֶגֶת הָעֲבוֹדָה הַיִּשְׂרְאֵלִית, ), commonly known as HaAvoda ( he, הָעֲבוֹדָה, , The Labor), is a social democratic and Zionist political party in Israel. The pa ...

nomination, third-term

incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an official, office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seek ...

mayor

was defeated by challenger

. Mitzna won 63% of the vote to Gur'el's 37% in the primary, held on May 18, 1993. The primary campaign between the two had been tense. After losing the primary, Gur'el announced that he would consider running in the general election as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

candidate.

General election

Since Haifa was considered a stronghold of the Labor Party, Mitzna entered the general election as its

front-runner In politics, a front-runner (also spelled frontrunner or front runner) is a leader in an electoral race. While the front-runner in athletic events (the namesake of the political concept) is generally clear, a political front-runner, particularly i ...

1998

The 1998 Haifa mayoral election was held on 10 November 1998, and saw the reelection

2003

The 2003 Haifa mayoral election was held on 28 October 2003 to elect the

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

. It saw the election of

Yona Yahav Yona Yahav ( he, יונה יהב, born 19 June 1944) is an Israeli lawyer and politician. He was formerly a member of the Knesset for the Labor Party. Yahav was the mayor of Haifa between 2003 and 2018. In the 2018 Haifa mayoral election, he l ...

. The election marked the first time that the

lost control of Haifa's mayoralty, as it and its predecessors had run the city since the 1940s. Haifa had been considered the party's most consistent stronghold. Labor was without a candidate, after their nominee,

Aliza Shenhar Aliza Shenhar () is a professor, author and was President of Emek Yezreel College who served as Israel's ambassador to Russia (1994–1997) and deputy mayor of Haifa. Biography Shenhar was born Rosh Pina where her father worked as a laborer. The ...

, having poor support, dropped-out of the race three days before the election and endorsed Yahav. Yahav, who had formerly been a Labor member of the

Knesset The Knesset ( he, הַכְּנֶסֶת ; "gathering" or "assembly") is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus has complete control of the entirety of the Israeli government (with ...

, ran a campaign affiliated with

Shinui Shinui ( he, שִׁינּוּי, lit. ''Change'') was a Zionist, secular, and anti-clerical free market liberal party and political movement in Israel. The party twice became the third-largest in the Knesset, but both occasions were followed by a ...

Greens Greens may refer to: *Leaf vegetables such as collard greens, mustard greens, spring greens, winter greens, spinach, etc. Politics Supranational * Green politics * Green party, political parties adhering to Green politics * Global Greens * Europ ...

-Neighborhoods Union, which also ran a

in the city council. Yahav had originally pursued Labor's nomination.

nominee, retired general Shmuel Arad, had been considered the

of the election. Arad received a greater vote share than any previous Likud mayoral candidate had ever received in Haifa. He had been expected to perform strongly in the city after Labor had Likud placed first in the city in the preceding

2003 Israeli legislative election 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

, the first time in its history that the party had done so.

2008

The 2008 Haifa mayoral election was held on 11 November 2008 to elect the

. It saw the reelection of

. It was part of the

2008 Israeli municipal elections Municipal elections were held in Israel on 11 November 2008.List results
Ministry of Interior

. Yahav defeated challenger Ya'acov Borovsky.

2013

The 2013 Haifa mayoral election was held on 22 October 2013 to elect the

. It saw the reelection of

to a third consecutive term. It was part of the

2013 Israeli municipal elections Thirteen or 13 may refer to: * 13 (number), the natural number following 12 and preceding 14 * One of the years 13 BC, AD 13, 1913, 2013 Music * 13AD (band), an Indian classic and hard rock band Albums * ''13'' (Black Sabbath album), 2013 * ...

. The city saw turnout exceeding 40%.

2018

The 2018 Haifa mayoral election was held on 30 October 2018 to elect the

. It saw the election of

Einat Kalisch-Rotem Einat Kalisch-Rotem ( he, עינת קליש-רותם; born 3 September 1970) is an Israeli urban planner and politician serving as mayor of Haifa since 2018. She is the first female mayor to lead any of the three major cities in Israel. Career ...

, who unseated

mayor

. Kalisch-Rotem would become the first female mayor of Haifa, making Haifa the largest city in Israel, and first major Israeli city, to ever have a female mayor. The election was part of the

2018 Israeli municipal elections Municipal elections were held in Israel on October 30, 2018. A run-off was held on November 13 in localities where a candidate for mayor received at least 40% of the vote. For the first time, the four local councils in Druze localities in the Go ...

Candidates

*Avihu Han (Haifa Greens) *

(Living in Haifa), city council member, urban planner, teacher and 2013 mayoral candidate *Mendi Salzmann (Haifa Awakens) *Israel Ya'akov Savyon (Lovers of Haifa) *

(Yona Yahav and Haifa's Youth), incumbent mayor since 2013

Results

References

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