Plan to merge local authorities frozen

A plan announced by Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit last month to merge 69 of Israel's local authorities into 27, was put on hold on Monday after encountering stiff opposition from politicians.

The majority of local council heads who were supposed to see their municipalities combined with others, opposed the proposal and pressured their political representatives to cancel it. As part of the campaign to neutralize the measure, MK Avishay Braverman (Labor) drafted a proposal to bar completion of the unification plan before the upcoming elections. The idea won the support of over half of the Knesset plenum.

National Infrastructure Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer (Labor) suggested in a cabinet meeting on Sunday that Sheetrit should annul his proposal. The two ministers subsequently discussed the initiative and the interior minister promised he would reconsider it.

"In principle, we're not talking about canceling the program, but rather postponing it until after the elections," Sheetrit clarified in a conversation with Ynet. "I conversed with mayors and they didn't tell me that the move is not the right one, but rather that they wanted to push it back."

He added that "I read the political map and saw that the local council heads pressured politicians. I was confronted with an offensive by members of Knesset from the entire political spectrum, including Kadima."

Former interior minister unsuccessful

This is the second time that an interior minister has attempted to merge local authorities. Former Interior Minister Avraham Poraz also attempted to enact a similar reform and was partially successful in combining some of the councils.

"We want to create larger and stronger towns," Sheetrit said in a press conference last month to launch the initiative. "There are places where it is impossible to feel the difference between towns. The best time to do this is now – before the elections in the local authorities – in order for candidates to be able to run for elections in a merged authority."

One motive for fusing the local councils was that it would aid integration among children from different backgrounds. "I am for integration despite what has been said about it," the interior minister declared. "I led integration in Yavne among children who were raised in housing projects and (children raised in) luxurious complexes, everyone came out happy with the result."

As expected, the decision to merge the authorities sparked staunch criticism from residents of established communities opposed to the move. Romemiya Halevy-Segal, head of the Savyon local council, which is home to more than a few millionaires, explained why he opposed the proposal: "We must unite authorities in similar socio-economic brackets. We are the authority that collects the lowest property tax in the State and provides the best services.

"There is no reason for us to pay extra property tax in order to fund a separate authority. It will give them an incentive to spend more lavishly. If the government wants to lessen the gaps, it should collect higher income taxes in Savyon and invest in Yahud and Or Yehuda."