Weekly Update 11

November 8, 2025

Hello everyone,

This week’s newsletter will cover three topics and include one request at the end—to participate in the public consultation process.

The first topic: Fortifying the Moshava High School

At this week’s council meeting, we discussed a motion submitted by our party regarding the protection of the high school.

It is important to understand that the vast majority of schools in the country, even those in areas under heavy bombardment, do not have full protection. The reason is the high cost of building shelters and the low priority given to protection over the past few decades. From the beginning of the year until recently, high school students studied via Zoom in combination with partial attendance at school to ensure that the existing protection would be sufficient for the number of students present at school each day. Recently, following a directive from the Ministry of Education, all communities classified as “green” have transitioned to regular in-person learning at schools, provided they meet the “safest possible” criterion. This means not full sheltering but sufficient protected spaces such as stairwells and similar areas.

An inspection conducted by the Home Front Command and the council’s security officer determined that Moshava High School meets this criterion. Thus, regular school operations can resume, and all students have returned to in-person learning at the school. It is important to note that this is not a decision by the council head but a directive from the Ministry of Education.

Since the return to regular classes, tensions have been running high at the high school—nearly 50% of the parents who responded to a survey conducted there want to continue learning via Zoom and are afraid to send their children to the high school. Against this backdrop, the proposal was added to our agenda, thanks to which we heard the council’s security officer explain the inspections conducted at the high school and the results of the drills carried out for the students. We heard him explain that the high school is as secure as possible and that it is safe for students to attend classes there.

Attached is a recording of the meeting. Minute 9: Avigayil presents the motion. Minute 29:50: the security officer’s explanation. We were convinced by his words.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSE0zutoTyA&t=1797s

Our party also wishes to ensure the future and expand security measures in schools; therefore, it was agreed that the security officer will present additional solutions for securing various areas of the high school at one of the upcoming meetings, and a special budget will be allocated for planning and implementation. We will continue to monitor the situation.

The second issue: The departure of Social Services Department Director Merav Tiram

 Unfortunately, another excellent director is leaving. Merav Tiram has announced her decision to end her work at the council after nearly three fruitful years. Merav spearheaded many initiatives and strengthened the range of services for the public—initiatives that constituted strategic moves for the community. Meirav’s work with the Ministry of Social Affairs enabled the Council to operate a subsidized program for children with special needs, offering a variety of after-school activities at a cost of 100 NIS per month. Together with the Zamarin Community Center, a wonderful array of subsidized classes in various fields was established for children with special needs.

Meirav and the professional staff established the unit’s work for immigrant absorption within the council. In Zichron Yaakov, hundreds of immigrant families have been absorbed in recent years, and the unit provided support through a variety of activities.

The department revived the Women’s Forum and provided professional support during the “Iron Swords” period, assisting families and individuals within this population group alongside its regular operations.

Meirav and the team developed community programs to expand services for senior citizens, including activity clubs for retired men, and to extend services to senior populations that have not yet received support—there are many such communities in need of assistance. We hope these initiatives will be implemented and that they will receive the support of the council administration. 

Meirav is the fifth director to choose to step down during the first few months of this term.

We wish her success.

Second topic: Audit reports and financial reports from the previous term

This week, during the plenary session, several reports were presented, including those from the Ministry of the Interior and the Council’s internal auditor. I can note that all reports pertaining to Ziv Deshe’s term attest to the functioning of a healthy organization.

First, the Ministry of the Interior’s audited financial report for 2022 lists “zero” issues requiring improvement in the section on material observations (Chapter 2 of the report). I hope we will continue to receive reports of this kind in the coming years.

Second, audit reports from the Council’s internal auditor that were discussed during the previous term in the Council’s Audit Committee. The Audit Committee at that time submitted recommendations to the full Council, which adopted them. Ziv Deshe, as Council Chair, together with the professional staff, ensured that all comments received a response—they have either been addressed or are currently being implemented.  

The reports addressed:

• Cash management in the authority’s vault
• Management of high-risk assets
• A report on information systems. 

We hope that during the current term under Council Head Abutbul, the reports and the rectification of deficiencies will be treated with the same seriousness—our party will be monitoring this.

Request to respond to a survey aimed at mapping transportation issues in Zichron Yaakov:

Dr. Avigayil Dolev from our party also serves as chair of the council’s Transportation Committee. Avigayil is an architect and planning consultant to the regional committee. Avigayil wishes to contribute her expertise to advance transportation issues in the community. To this end, she invites the public to participate in addressing transportation issues. The process will be carried out in collaboration with the council administration and the council engineer.
Please take a few minutes to complete the following survey, which has also been shared on Facebook with all residents of the town.

https://forms.gle/o3VR84cTd89SzHt7A

 

Limor Zar Gutman

The “For the Moshava” Party