JERUSALEM : Straw Poll for Peace
Although the issues in Israeli municipal elections scheduled for next Tuesday are local, the vote is seen as a key test of popular satisfaction with the peace accord that Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and his Labor Party signed with the Palestine Liberation Organization in Washington last month.
Rabin has been particularly active in Jerusalem. He begged Mayor Teddy Kollek, 83, to seek reelection despite his age and 28 years spent on the job, calling Kollek the best builder of Jerusalem since the biblical King Herod.
Kollek faces a strong challenge from Ehud Olmert, a longtime Likud bloc politician. There are also two religious party candidates for the post.
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