The Orthodox Degel HaTorah party won a fairly comfortable victory in a local special election Monday, retaining one of its two Knesset seats claimed by the right-wing Tehiya party.
The election, in the religious township of Bnei Brak and neighboring Ramat Gan, both Tel Aviv suburbs, involved fewer than 1,500 voters.
It was ordered by the High Court of Justice because of allegations of fraud at two polling stations in the 1988 Knesset elections.
Tehiya, which initiated the complaint three years ago, blamed Likud for its failure Monday to add a fourth seat to its Knesset, faction.
Degel, which had been expected to do well in rigidly religious Bnei Brak, scored a dramatic reversal in largely secular Ramat Gan, where it polled 156 votes Monday compared with only 60 in the 1988 elections.
Tehiya picked up 60 votes in Bnei Brak, where it had none in 1988. Degel also did better there, polling 246 compared with 208 in 1988.
As the Year Turns, Support the Journalism You Trust. JTA covers the stories shaping Jewish life around the world — with the depth this moment calls for. As you reflect on the year ahead, consider a gift that keeps independent Jewish journalism strong.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
