Reports: Religious, far-right parties gain in local Israeli elections

Ultra-Orthodox and far-right parties are making gains in Israel's municipal elections, according to media reports from Wednesday.

In Jerusalem City Council, preliminary results indicate an "unprecedented majority" of ultra-Orthodox forces, the Times of Israel reported on Wednesday.

The turnout, which included large numbers of ultra-Orthodox voters as other groups stayed away, is behind the gains, it said. The official final results are not expected until next week. The election, which took place on Tuesday, had already been postponed twice due to the war in Gaza.

Overall, the very religious make up around 13% of Israel's nearly 10 million inhabitants.

Just under 50% of the more than 7 million citizens called to vote cast their ballots nationwide on Tuesday, lower than usual for local elections in Israel, the newspaper reported.

Due to the Gaza war, which has been going on for almost five months, a low voter turnout was expected.

Jerusalem media reported that it appeared that the right-wing conservative mayor, Moshe Lion, would remain in office as expected.

The left-leaning Haaretz newspaper reported that the coastal cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa will remain "liberal strongholds" in the country.

Ron Huldai, the incumbent Tel Aviv mayor who has run the city for more than 25 years, beat former economy minister Orna Barbivai, who congratulated Huldai on his victory.

In the vote in 241 municipal authorities, people were called upon to elect mayors as well as councillors.

The right-wing conservative Likud party of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke of a "great victory" in the vote. Several places in the country had moved to the right thanks to the party, it said in a statement.

"The right-wing bloc throughout the country has strengthened," Likud said.

According to Haaretz, a Likud candidate with far-right views also won the mayoral election in a town in the Negev desert.

Israeli media reported that the results of these local elections do not necessarily translate to what might happen on the national level.

Polls show that Netanyahu's right-wing religious coalition would incur massive losses in a new election now.

The party of Benny Gantz, a minister in the war Cabinet, would currently be by far the strongest faction.

But Gantz's moderate centre-right alliance is not as well positioned and less experienced at the municipal level than Netanyahu's party, according to Israeli media.