Two-time mayoral candidate Moshe Lion ultimately managed to beat out upstart rival Ofer Berkovitch in a second round of voting, and only by the slimmest of margins.

The race was a nail-biter. After counting about half of the votes in Jerusalem, it appeared as if Berkovitch, who was running on a secular platform, was going to win. At times during the counting, he was ahead by as much as 10 points. But as the evening wore on, Lion began to gain on his opponent, and finally came out on top by a mere 6,000 votes. A further 3,800 votes from soldiers were never counted, since even if they all went to Berkovitch, he still wouldn’t win.

Lion will soon take over from outgoing Mayor Nir Barkat. Lion is religious, but not ultra-Orthodox, though he was endorsed by most of the city’s ultra-Orthodox factions. He is also considered a hard-liner in his positions...

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