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"So long as I am prime minister, Jerusalem will remain our united capital. That's how it will be," he said. The Israeli government is responsible for peace talks with the Palestinians. While the Jerusalem mayor has no official say in the city's political future, he can affect local Arab-Jewish issues such as building permits, construction, education and public services. Barkat says that in his five years as mayor, he has halted the exodus of tens of thousands of secular Jerusalemites, revived the city's cultural life and improved the quality of life for its Arabs. But surprisingly, Jerusalem remains one of the poorest cities in Israel, and Lion says Barkat placed too much emphasis on cultural activities at the expense of affordable housing and sanitation. Dovish Israelis have also accused Barkat of neglecting east Jerusalem's Arabs and having a cozy relationship with hard-line settler groups. In other cities in Israel, mayoral contenders were campaigning Tuesday to make election history. Lawmaker Nitzan Horowitz was looking to unseat popular Tel Aviv mayor Ron Huldai to become the country's first openly gay mayor, and in the Arab city of Nazareth, firebrand lawmaker Hanin Zoabi was running against a powerful incumbent in a bid to become the country's first female Arab mayor. One race in the northern Israeli town of Nesher turned into a family affair: Mashiach Amar was running against his brother David, the town's mayor. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said officers are investigating several violent incidents surrounding the elections. On the eve of the vote, a lawyer affiliated with elections in the city of Lod was shot and wounded by gunmen. In the Arab city of Sakhnin a brawl broke out between dozens of voters at a polling station. And at a station in Jerusalem a man pulled out a knife and waved it around yelling. It wasn't clear what he was shouting about and he ran away without causing harm.
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