Lion was regarded as the candidate of the far-right and was strongly linked to Avigdor Lieberman.[3] The candidate of Likud-Yisrael Beiteinu[2] (an alliance between the Likud party led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Yisrael Beiteinu party led by Lieberman), he was regarded as Lieberman's candidate. It was believed that Lieberman had hoped that a Lion victory would bolster his chances of potentially challenging Netanyahu's leadership.[3] Pundits posited that Haredi opponents of Netanyahu's government were supporting Lion in hopes a victory for him would help provide momentum to topple Netanyahu's coalition in the Knesset.[3] Also supporting Lion was Aryeh Deri, the chairman of the Shas party.[4] Lion did not receive the support of Netanyahu, who formally remained neutral in the race, but was speculated to favor Barkat.[4]
Barkat was endorsed by the Israel Hayom newspaper. Lion
was endorsed by Yedioth Ahronoth.[4]
It was speculated that a last-minute agreement between Barkat and major sects of the city's Hasidic populace were key in delivering Barkat his reelection.[5]
While the coinciding municipal elections in most other cities relatively attracted little attention, Jerusalem's mayoral race attracted significant attention.[4] The election was tense and hard-fought.[4]
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