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Labour candidate Einat Kalisch Rotem beat the incumbent Yona Yahav to become Haifa’s new Mayor as Israeli municipal election results were announced this morning.

Rotem’s surprise victory marks the first time a woman has been elected to lead one of Israel’s three major cities — Haifa, Jerusalem or Tel Aviv. Tel Aviv’s incumbent Mayor Ron Huldai is set to win a fifth term by defeating his deputy, Asaf Zamir who was running against him. Huldai has reportedly won 46 per cent of the vote compared with Zamir’s 34 per cent, although final results are still pending.

“We have many more things to do for the people of Tel Aviv,” said Huldai after preliminary results were announced. “I thank the residents of Tel Aviv for their trust [in me] and the great team [of activists]. They did a wonderful job,” he said.

In Jerusalem’s mayoral race, none of the candidates achieved the 40 per cent threshold necessary to win in the first round. The top two candidates, secular candidate Ofer Berkovitch and Moshe Lion, will compete in a runoff election in November. Jerusalem Affairs Minister Zeev Elkin – who was backed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and current mayor Nir Barkat – came fourth.

Hundreds of Druze protestors, some carrying Syrian flags, gathered outside the gates of a polling station in Majdal Shams on the Golan Heights trying to block their townspeople from voting. Israeli police wearing helmets and carrying tear gas launchers cleared a path for voters outside the polling station as the protestors chanted: “The Golan’s identity is Arab and Syrian.”

The closest race, that is still too close to call, is in Beit Shemesh, where the favourite ultra-Orthodox Mayor Moshe Abutbul is running against Dr Aliza Bloch, a national religious candidate but with strong support from the secular community. In Beer Sheva, incumbent Mayor Ruvik Danilovich won with over 91 per cent of the vote. His party, “New Way”, also increased its strength in the city council, winning 16 of the 27 seats. In Netanya, long-time mayor Miriam Feirberg-Ikar defeated Jewish Home MK Yoni Chetboun to secure a fifth term despite ongoing corruption charges. In Ra’anana, Chaim Broyde received 32 per cent of the votes, beating incumbent Eitan Ginzburg, the first openly gay mayor in Israel. After 30 years as Mayor of Nahariya, Mayor Jacky Sabag lost to Ronen Marley, who received 62 per cent of the ballet.

The voting system in the municipal elections in Israel allows voters to cast two ballots, one for mayor and one for a political party, allowing them to split their vote. According to the Interior Ministry, 3.6 million people voted out of 6.6 million eligible voters in 251 cities, towns, and local councils, representing a 5 per cent increase in turnout from 2013 elections. For the first time, under a new Knesset law, Israelis were given the day off to vote in local elections.