Avi Slama was elected Tuesday as the new mayor of Netanya, winning a special election to fill the post after the coastal city’s longtime mayor Miriam Feirberg-Ikar died in November.

Acting Mayor Tali Mulner finished well behind Slama, who received over two-thirds of the ballots cast from among 218,000 eligible voters.

Slama received 68 percent of the vote, with Mulner trailing at 27.49%.

A member of the ruling Likud party, Slama was endorsed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who visited the city on election day to show his support.

In his victory speech, Slama said the city had lost “a giant figure” in Feirberg-Ikar and “with great respect, I assume........

© The Times of Israel