Jerusalem's Mayoral Race Reflects the City's Troubled Times

His posters depict him as an animated character reminiscent of Santa Claus, but in person, Porush is more formidable, with a long white beard and a long black coat.

At one campaign event, he challenged the mostly secular audience to move past the stereotype that he would only help ultra-Orthodox institutions.

"The public should judge me by my past successes, as minister of housing and of deputy mayor of the city, not by my beard," he said. "So what if I have a long beard -- what does that mean? That I'm not qualified?"

Porush reminded the audience that under the current mayor, Uri Lupolianski, who is also ultra-Orthodox, more secular bars and entertainment venues have opened in the city.

In the last election, 80 percent of all eligible ultra-Orthodox voters turned out, compared with 32 percent of all other voters. Porush hopes a similarly high ultra-Orthodox turnout will help him win.

The most colorful mayoral candidate, and the least likely to win, is businessman Arkady Gaydamak. He was born in Russia, moved to Israel and then spent most of his life in France before returning to Israel in 2000.

Forbes last year estimated Gaydamak's wealth at $950 million, most of it allegedly earned in the arms trade with Angola; other media estimates place his wealth as high as $4 billion.

One of 42 defendants being tried in France for illegal arms dealing and tax evasion, Gaydamak has said he will attend the trial and prove himself innocent after the mayoral race is over.

Gaydamak has won fans by buying Beitar Yerushalayim, the local soccer team, and pouring money into it, as well as for rescuing a Jerusalem hospital from bankruptcy. His campaign posters read "Gaydamak doesn't talk, he acts." Some graffiti artists have changed the wording to "Gaydamak doesn't talk Hebrew," since he is far from fluent in the language.

Most of Gaydamak's support comes from Palestinians in East Jerusalem. Israel offered citizenship to Palestinians when it annexed the eastern half of the city in 1967, but few accepted. Most East Jerusalemites are not citizens but "residents" who carry Israeli-issued identity cards that give them freedom of movement and access to Israeli medical clinics and social security.

But it is almost impossible to get an Israeli permit to build a home in East Jerusalem, and tens of thousands of homes have been ordered demolished. East Jerusalem also needs hundreds of classrooms. The high school drop-out rate is 50 percent among boys and 30 percent among girls.

Gaydamak has taken out huge ads in Palestinian newspapers promising "social justice for all."