World Notes ISRAEL

The nationwide municipal elections were not about road improvements and garbage collection -- or so said Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir. "Every vote for the Likud," he proclaimed at an election rally, "means that Israel wants no business with the murderers of our sons." When the votes were tallied last week, his right-wing Likud bloc had carried 44 of the 99 municipalities, up from 26 in 1983. Elated, Shamir claimed an ideological victory for his policies opposing both territorial compromise and talks with the Palestine Liberation Organization.

The stunning upset ended decades of Labor Party dominance in numerous key regions. With more Labor strongholds expected to fall in runoff elections scheduled for next week, Labor leader Shimon Peres grudgingly agreed to an investigation into the humiliating defeat.

In Jerusalem legendary Mayor Teddy Kollek, 77, won a sixth term in office with 59% of the vote. But his Labor-affiliated party, One Jerusalem, lost its majority on the powerful city council, in part because of low Arab turnout.