 Hi friends and followers, welcome back to my YouTube channel. My name is Daniel Rossell and this channel focuses on life on the ground here in Jerusalem and Israel. From today, there are just 61 days to go until Israeli residents will go to the polls to vote for their local representatives. These municipal elections matter everywhere in Israel, but my attention is naturally most focused on the city in which I live, Jerusalem. Demographically, Jerusalem is a vastly complicated city, and the complicated nature of it can be felt keenly during the local election season. East Jerusalem remains mostly Palestinian and its residents traditionally boycott the elections because they see them as legitimizing Israeli control over the entire city of Jerusalem, which is something that they repudiate. As I mentioned in a previous video, the municipal elections in Jerusalem are shaping up to become a rather stark fighting ground between left and right. Today there was some news on the campaign front that many residents will be glad to hear about, which was the decision of the left parties to merge their electoral lists. Unfortunately, merits Avoda, Isha Tid, and Yossi Havilio have decided to run together in the municipal elections, effectively consolidating the left-leaning parties into one electoral block. Itororut, which sits slightly to the right of the block, welcomed the move, saying that it would help to strengthen their shared opposition to what they said was a rising threat of extremism in Jerusalem. Without mentioning him by name and its statement, it seems as if Itororut was referring to R.E. King, the inflammatory deputy mayor of Jerusalem, who is now running for mayor of the city, and is known for his outspoken and hostile views towards Palestinians and the LGBT community. King is associated with the far-right, ultra-nationalist Otsma Yehudi party and is an ally and supporter of Itamar Ben-Vehr, who heads that party. King was once recorded on camera during a Palestinian resident of Jerusalem, Abu Hummus, saying that if worked to him, he would shoot him in the head instead of in the backside. Itamar Ben-Vehr, in turn, is probably the most controversial politician in Israel today and is well known for his extremist views. Besides the left-center bloc and R.E. King, there are ultra-religious parties who are mostly interested in protecting narrow-sectoral interests. Now, to declare my biases, lest they weren't already obvious, personally, I'm extremely concerned about the threat of rising extremism in Jerusalem. I'm also very much in favour of candidates on the list, which can advance progressive agendas that emphasise job creation and other pragmatic positive measures. Candidates who only vow to reduce the number of LGBT flags on display before the annual Pride Parade, in my opinion, have nothing constructive or hopeful to offer the city and its future. Want to get more videos from me or have thoughts about the future of the city and the upcoming elections? Then please consider liking this video and subscribing to this YouTube channel.