The Israeli Cabinet voted down last night a proposal that elections for municipal and local councils be held on different dates from next Summer’s national elections.
During the discussion of the bill to amend the municipal election procedure, Premier David Ben Gurion favored direct elections of mayors, but a vote was deferred until next week. At present the local council ballotting, like that on the national level, is based on proportional representation by party slate rather than by direct vote for individual candidates.
A decision to allow non-Israeli residents to vote in the local elections was also deferred by a narrow margin–again overriding the Premier.
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