Nissenkorn set for victory as judge stops vote counting

Yachimovich, Nissenkorn Photo: Eyal Yizhar
Yachimovich, Nissenkorn Photo: Eyal Yizhar

Avi Nissenkorn is winning 59% of the vote to Shelly Yachimovich's 40%.

Incumbent Histadrut (General Federation of Labor in Israel) chairman Avi Nissenkorn is emerging as the winner in the elections that were held on Tuesday. However, Tel Aviv District Court president Judge Eitan Orenstein has ordered vote counting to stop on suspicion of irregularities.

According to voting results already counted at polling stations located in various residential areas around Israel, Nissenkorn received 59% of the vote, compared with 40% for MK Shelly Yachimovich (Zionist Union). The results from polling stations located in places of work will be tabulated tomorrow, but Nissenkorn is expected to do even better there.

In accordance with warnings issued before the elections, Yachimovich's headquarters alleged that there were a large number of forged ballots and unacceptable behavior amounting to "systematic fraud." Among other things, the Yachimovich campaign staff claimed that there were cases of break-ins into voting boxes, poll watchers being refused entry into the polling area, workers who received envelopes marked with their name and ID number written on them for the purpose of monitoring their votes, etc. A complaint has already been filed with the election committee.

At the same time, it is believed that Yachimovich foresaw the loss, and had tried in her announcement to impress upon public awareness that she was combatting "shadowy groups," probably in order to lay the basis for a future political campaign .

The Histadrut elections and the coalition between the Bayit Hevrati (Social Home) factions, which also included Shas, preserve a tool that Yachimovich can utilize in the future, among other things in a scenario in which she seeks to found a new party or create a new political axis together with MK Orly Levi-Abekasis.

Nissenkorn's headquarters said, "This is a crushing victory that is expected to increase, with an unprecedented percentage of eligible voters going to the polls. We regret that Yachimovich is not accepting her defeat, and is continuing her campaign of complaints and slander that she has been conducting for the past three months. The impression is that Shelly's goal is to harm the Histadrut, the workers' committees, organized labor in Israel, and over 240,000 voters - the largest number of voters in the past 20 years. Shelly's behavior is shameful and embarrassing. She is not showing respect for the voters' clear wishes, and is trying to damage the democratic process through unfounded slanders."

Published by Globes [online], Israel Business News - www.globes-online.com - on May 25, 2017

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2017

Yachimovich, Nissenkorn Photo: Eyal Yizhar
Yachimovich, Nissenkorn Photo: Eyal Yizhar
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