Yoni Mamo wins Sdot Negev council race by 130 votes

Yoni Mamo, 37, has been elected head of the Sdot Negev Regional Council. He won by just 130 votes, Israel Hayom reported.

Mamo, who formerly ran the council's community center (matnas), beat Asi Almasi in a close finish. Three candidates ran in the special election.

He replaces Tamir Idan, who led the council for nearly 14 years. The report did not say why a special election was held, and the full vote totals and turnout were not given.

A margin of 130 votes is thin in a regional council, where the electorate is made up of residents of small communities spread across a wide area. Regional councils in Israel are made up of kibbutzim, moshavim and other small communities, and the council head is directly elected by residents. The head runs municipal services such as education, welfare and local infrastructure, and controls the council budget.

Sdot Negev is in the northwestern Negev, in the area near the Gaza border. Communities in the region have been through years of rocket fire and the war that followed October 7, 2023. That makes day-to-day management, from schools to emergency readiness and rebuilding, a central part of the job.

Mamo's background is in local community work rather than national politics. Running a matnas means managing programs for children, youth and families, along with staff and a local budget. That is the experience he brings to the head's office.

Idan's long tenure means the council now changes hands for the first time in well over a decade. Mamo will need to set out his priorities and put together a working team. Whether Almasi accepts the result has not been reported.