An Israeli candidate touts his city

In Peri's view, Mitzna believes in coexistence and was not simply courting Arab voters. "I think that Mitzna became more humane because of his army experience," he says, referring to Mitzna's service as commander of the West Bank during the intifada uprising.

During that period, Palestinians considered him tough for overseeing house demolitions and collective punishments, but he was also disliked by Jewish settlers. Critics say that even under Mitzna, Arabs continue to be discriminated against when it comes to funding for education and social services. He takes pride in building Haifa's first modern public high school for Arab pupils, the Shizaf School, but it is not nearly enough and still leaves the Arab community lagging in educational facilities, says Suha Sibany, an activist on educational issues.

Mitzna also allocated funds to start a local Arab theatre, al-Midan, and raised money for Bet HaGefen to open a library with computer facilities. But by far Mitzna's most visible actions have been in Wadi Nisnas, where the municipality holds the "holiday of holidays festival." The festival, which this year begins Saturday, draws on Hanukkah, Christmas and Ramadan, turning the neighborhood's streets into a carnival and attracting Arab and Jewish artists from all over the country.

"The problem is that all of this is really for the tourists, it did not offer any social services to the people living in the wadi,"says Ms. Sibany. She adds that the city is planning to tear down a large number of buildings in the neighborhood to widen streets, a move she says will displace elderly people. "Haifa is not the best model for anything," she says.

Sammy Smooha, a Haifa University sociologist, says the mayor worked hard to keep Jewish shoppers going to Wadi Nisnas after the intifada started, and credits him with "acting as a pacifier, a coordinator, a person who earned the trust and support of both sides. He recognized the Arab community as an entity to talk to, to negotiate with. He didn't try to dominate or ignore it."

But Mr. Smooha stresses that Mitzna's success was facilitated by the facts that Haifa's Arabs come from a better socioeconomic background, are predominantly Christian, and make up less of the overall population than in other mixed cities. "Mitzna used a model of power-sharing. But it would be hard to apply this model to the mixed cities where Jews feel very insecure. There a model of domination is used."

Odeh, the city councillor, says the main reason Arabs are interested in Mitzna's success is not his record in Haifa but that he favors a return to negotiations with the Palestinians. "The key problem is the occupation. Our people are at war with our state. To speak of equality without solving the Palestinian problem is superficial. I am pinning my hopes on Mitzna. I want him to be prime minister."

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