Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat wins second term after tough election race

The secular mayor of Jerusalem has won a second term after a hard-fought campaign that saw him fending off a challenge by a candidate backed by two of Israel's biggest kingmakers.

Challenger Moshe Lion conceded defeat to Nir Barkat at about 2.30am local time on Wednesday.

"Jerusalem won!" Barkat wrote on his Facebook page.

With 70% of the votes counted in Tuesday's election, Barkat held a commanding lead of 55% to Lion's 42%. Israeli TV stations said the 14,000-vote margin was all but insurmountable.

The 2008 election victory of Barkat, a former hi-tech entrepreneur, followed years of dominance by ultra-Orthodox Jews over the city's affairs. His first term – characterised by high-profile tourism and cultural projects meant to boost the economy and halt an exodus of secular residents from the city – was generally seen as a success.

But Lion, a former director of the prime minister's office, was backed by two key politicians jostling to reclaim their former political glory. Lion's allies, former foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman and the leader of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, Ariyeh Deri, both had much at stake.

Lion, an observant Jew, was counting heavily on ultra-Orthodox voters. In a last-minute blow, two leading ultra-Orthodox rabbis declined to endorse him late on Monday, telling their adherents to vote according to their conscience.

Jerusalem is one of the world's most difficult cities to govern. It lies at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and is the centre of secular-religious battles for control in Israel.

The city's 800,000 residents include secular, modern Orthodox, and ultra-Orthodox Jews as well as Palestinians.