Elections are held in Tel Aviv to elect the city's mayor. Currently, such elections are regularly scheduled to elect mayors to five-year terms.
Prior to 1978, mayors were selected by a vote of the city council. Since 1978, direct elections have been held for mayor.[1]
The 1978 Tel Aviv mayoral election was held on 8, November 1978, and saw the reelection of Shlomo Lahat.
| 1978 Tel Aviv mayoral elections results[2] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | |
| Shlomo Lahat (incumbent) | 85,092 | 58.36 | ||
| 43,025 | 29.51 | |||
| Haim Menachem Besuk | 12,093 | 8.30 | ||
| 5,579 | 3.83 | |||
| Total | 145,789 | 100 | ||
The 1983 Tel Aviv mayoral election saw the reelection of Shlomo Lahat to a third consecutive term.
The 1989 Tel Aviv mayoral election was held on 28 February 1989, and saw the reelection of Shlomo Lahat to a fourth consecutive term.
| 1989 Tel Aviv mayoral elections results[3] [4] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | |
| Shlomo Lahat (incumbent) | 70,052 | 55.3 | ||
| Natan Wolloch | 24,254 | 19.1 | ||
| Mordechai Yitzhari | 11,898 | 9.4 | ||
| 7,205 | 5.7 | |||
| Aryeh Zucker | 6,192 | 4.9 | ||
| 4,476 | 3.5 | |||
| Yair Rotlevy | 2,600 | 2.1 | ||
| Total | 126,677 | 100 | ||
The 1993 Tel Aviv mayoral election was held on 2 November 1993, and saw the election of Roni Milo.
| 1993 Tel Aviv mayoral elections results[5] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | |
| Roni Milo | I am a Tel Avivi | 62,553 | 47.15 | |
| 56,383 | 42.50 | |||
| Mordechai Yitzhari | 8,959 | 6.75 | ||
| 4,769 | 3.60 | |||
| Total | 132,664 | 100 | ||
The 1998 Tel Aviv mayoral election was held on 10 November 1998, and saw the election of Ron Huldai.
Incumbent mayor Roni Milo had opted against seeking reelection, instead planning to run for prime minister in 2000 as the head of a new centrist political party.[6] [7]
Huldai had been the principal of Herzliya Hebrew Gymnasium.[8] Huldai ran as an independent candidate with the support of the Israeli Labor Party.[9] Huldai was regarded to be a political liberal.[10] His opponents included former general Doron Rubin[11] and actor Samuel Vilozny.
Huldai was considered the front-runner during the campaign.[10]
The campaign of Doron Rubin never received much momentum.[12]
There were instances of electoral violence during the campaign. Instances included a switchboard serving Huldai's campaign office was set on fire, a firebomb being tossed at one of the mayoral candidates homes, and a car belonging to a volunteer for one of the campaigns being set on fire.[10]
Huldai's victory was regarded to be a landslide.[10]
| 1998 Tel Aviv mayoral elections results[13] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Candidate | Votes | % | |
| Ron Huldai | 66,701 | 50.25 | ||
| Doron for Tel Aviv | 32,917 | 25.19 | ||
| Samuel Vilozny - Our City | 17,655 | 13.51 | ||
| Naftali Lobert | 7,888 | 6.04 | ||
| Dan Darin-Dravkin | Lev - Dan Darin's list | 3,282 | 2.51 | |
| Yehudit Arad | Tel Aviv elects residents | 2,385 | 1.83 | |
| Arieh Chertok | Tel Aviv 2000 | 837 | 0.64 | |
| Total | 130,665 | 100 | ||
The 2003 Tel Aviv mayoral election was held on 28 October 2003, and saw the reelection of Ron Huldai. Huldai won 55,966 votes (62.91% of the vote) against 5 opponents.
| 2003 Tel Aviv mayoral elections results[14] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | |
| Ron Huldai (incumbent) | One Tel Aviv | 55,966 | 62.91 | |
| Arnon Giladi | 11,507 | 12.93 | ||
| 8,531 | 9.59 | |||
| Gila Hertz | Gila Hertz-Public Right | 7,082 | 7.96 | |
| Israel Meir Godovich | Godovich is good for Tel Aviv | 5,864 | 6.59 | |
| Naftali Lobert | 11 | 0.01 | ||
| Total | 88,961 | 100 | ||
The 2008 Tel Aviv mayoral election was held on 11 November 2008, and saw the reelection of Ron Huldai to a third consecutive term. Huldai won 51% of the vote.[8]
Huldai was considered the election's front-runner.[15] However, he faced criticisms accusing him of failing to address the demand for affordable housing in the city. and alleging that development in the city during his mayoralty had been beneficial only to the city's wealthy.[15]
Runner-up Dov Khenin, a member of the Knesset who ran on a social and environmental issues-focused platform, won 34% of the vote.[8] Kkhenin, running under the "City for All" party label,[17] was also affiliated with Hadash.[15]
One of the top issues discussed during the election included growing demand for parking spaces in the city, which outweighed the supply.[15]
| 2008 Tel Aviv mayoral elections results[18] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | |
| Ron Huldai (incumbent) | One Tel Aviv[19] | 67,704 | 50.08 | |
| City of All | 45,737 | 34.30 | ||
| Shachor Svi-Oren | Oren[20] | 13,974 | 10.48 | |
| Green Party[21] | 5,345 | 4.01 | ||
| Asma Agbaria-Zahalka | Da'am[22] | 584 | 0.04 | |
| Total | 133,344 | 100 | ||
See main article: 2013 Tel Aviv mayoral election.
The 2013 Tel Aviv mayoral election was held 22 October 2013, and saw the reelection of Ron Huldai to a fourth consecutive term.
| 2013 Tel Aviv mayoral elections results[23] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | |
| Ron Huldai (incumbent) | One Tel Aviv[24] | 70,048 | 53.24 | |
| Meretz[25] | 50,166 | 38.13 | ||
| Aharon Maduel | City of All | 11,368 | 8.64 | |
| Total | 131,582 | 100 | ||
See main article: 2018 Tel Aviv mayoral election.
The 2018 Tel Aviv mayoral election was held on 30 October 2018 to elect the mayor of Tel Aviv. It saw the reelection of Ron Huldai to a fifth consecutive term.[8]
The election was part of the 2018 Israeli municipal elections.
Since Huldai's share of the vote exceeded the 40% threshold required to avert a runoff election, no runoff was held.[8]
Turnout was 44.17%
| Candidate | Party name | Votes | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ron Huldai (incumbent) | One Tel Aviv | , Tel Aviv Ahat | 91,116 | 46.86 | |
| Asaf Zamir | City Majority | , Rov HaIr | 66,403 | 34.15 | |
| Assaf Harel | We Are the City | , Anahnu HaIr | 23,604 | 12.14 | |
| Natan Elnatan | Shas | 13,328 | 6.85 | ||
| Source: Ministry of the Interior[26] | |||||
See main article: 2024 Tel Aviv mayoral election. The 2024 Tel Aviv mayoral election will be held to elect the mayor of Tel Aviv. Current Israeli law imposes no term limits on Mayors,[27] Incumbent Ron Huldai announced his intention to run for a sixth term.[28]