Mayor Nir Barkat would win re-election for mayor with 47 percent of the vote, compared with 41 percent for challenger Moshe Leon, according to a new poll carried out by the Smith Institute and published Thursday.
Although Barkat has a solid lead, it is far smaller than anyone imagined when Leon, a virtual unknown from the metropolitan Tel Aviv to city of Givatayim, tossed his hat in the ring.
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Leon has won the support of Knesset Member Avigdor Lieberman, chairman of the Yisrael Beitenu faction of Likud-Beiteinu, and MK Aryeh Deri, chairman of the Shas Sephardi religious party.
The elections will be held next Tuesday.
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