שאלת ראשות עיריית חיפה וההיערכות לקראת הבחירות המוניציפליות בשלהי תקופת המנדט

The struggle for control over mixed municipalities in Palestine reached its peak during the preparations for the last municipal elections to be held toward the end of the British Mandate. At that time, control of a mixed municipality was considered by Jews and Arabs alike as a position of power not to be conceded. The post of mayor carried personal prestige, as well as the possibility of translating it into influence in favor of national ambitions. The escalation in the Jewish-Arab struggle toward the end of the Mandatory period bore directly on the crucial importance attributed by both Jews and Arabs to the post of mayor of Haifa, and the status of Haifa in the struggle for Eretz-Israel; hence the intense preparations for the elections. From the Jewish point of view, these elections held the potential of damage more than benefit, the principal danger being loss of the mayoralty of Haifa, threatening the gains made by the Jewish Yishuv in that city. The article examines the factors and line of thinking that guided the Jewish leadership in determining its stance regarding the Haifa mayoralty and the election campaign during the period 1940-1947 in light of the Arab attitude toward them. It maintains that in view of the circumstances of the period and the condition of the Jewish Yishuv in Haifa, the Jewish side could not afford to lose the mayoralty. Thus, it acted with determination to frustrate any attempt to wrest control of this post from its grasp.