Weekly Update 22

January 24, 2025

Hello, everyone.

Below is a summary of Newsletter 22,

• An investigation by Haaretz reveals that the Ministry of the Interior, which oversees local government, has failed in its duties, and oversight of local authorities is weak. For example, regarding prohibited appointments that are not revoked because there is no oversight.
• In our council, I have already exposed two problematic appointments that were referred to the authorities for review—the appointment of Abutbul’s campaign manager to the position of security coordinator, a candidacy he was not permitted to submit. However, the council’s legal advisor approved the appointment.
• This week, I exposed a job posting that appears to have been “tailored” for the position of cultural coordinator at the Zamarin Community Center municipal corporation. A variety of facts led me to conclude that the posting was likely “tailored” and that they did not genuinely want to allow other people to apply, so that the desired candidate would “win” the position. Attached is the letter I sent to several responsible parties.
• The Ministry of the Interior has established clear and binding guidelines regarding the publication of job openings and the selection processes for various positions in local authorities and municipal corporations. All that needs to be done is to comply with them.
• Following the lawful publication of the job posting, there are several recruitment procedures depending on the seniority of the position and the role in question. It is important to note that in most cases, an internal job posting must be issued within the organization if there are internal candidates interested in competing for the offered position.

On Thursday of this week, journalist Tali Haruti-Sever of Haaretz published a detailed investigative report in The Marker magazine on the situation at the Ministry of the Interior—“The Ministry of the Interior Is Falling Apart”—with growing criticism of Minister Arbel’s conduct. The section of the report dealing with the lack of oversight over local authorities is particularly important to us. It states:

“The Ministry of the Interior is responsible for supervising local government and is supposed to be a key gatekeeper; but the unit within it responsible for this supervision—the Local Government Administration—is very weak. “Mayors don’t take the Ministry of the Interior seriously,” says a source familiar with local government. “The ministry is weak, and the oversight is even weaker.”

The article details a series of illegal appointments made in municipalities such as Arad, Holon, and Rehovot. It is likely that Zichron Yaakov will be added to this list in the future, where the council’s security officer was appointed a few months ago, while concealing the fact that he was the paid campaign manager for Abutbul—which, of course, prevents him from even running for office. But as I reported here and in the video I shared at the time—the council’s legal advisor, through a legal maneuver, approved the appointment, but the matter is still under review by the State Comptroller. This week I learned of another appointment process that is also apparently irregular and contrary to the Ministry of the Interior’s guidelines for hiring employees.

This concerns a tender for the position of Director of the Culture Department at the Zamarin Municipal Corporation. The position became vacant following the resignation of the excellent Yoel Virba. This week I also referred the matter to the Ministry of the Interior for review. But according to the article, there is no one to trust there.

A host of facts led me to the conclusion that the tender is likely “rigged” and did not truly allow other people to apply. Attached is the letter I sent to all members of the community center’s management, its audit committee, and the center’s external legal advisor. The latter replied that, following my letter, she would look into the matter.

This tender contained several flaws that should raise a red flag regarding it being a “rigged tender.” The tender set an unreasonable deadline of 4 days!! For submitting applications, the tender was initially published without a deadline for submission, the proposed salary was not specified (information that must be included), and it is unclear whether it was published in the required media. In the letter I sent, attached here, I provided examples of how, when they want to, the council does publish tenders in accordance with the mandatory guidelines.

And that is the topic of our newsletter today—jobs/positions in the Zichron Yaakov local authority—who is responsible, how people are selected, and who on earth is supervising. To answer these questions, we must distinguish between the types of positions handled through different channels.

According to the Ministry of the Interior’s guidelines (see attached link to the Municipal Regulations on Job Postings), the “Job Description Compendium” must be followed. The regulations detail the structure of the job posting, job requirements, scope of employment, and more. Thus, every job posting must explicitly include mandatory information in the body of the tender, such as: minimum qualifications, scope of the position, and the deadline for submitting resumes (date and time). https://www.nevo.co.il/law_html/law01/p182_048.htm

For municipal corporations (such as the Zamarin Community Center), “the hiring of personnel within the municipal corporation, in accordance with the approved organizational structure, shall be carried out by the municipal corporation through a tender process as is customary within the authority, … the company’s board of directors.”

Link to the Ministry of the Interior website – Employees in a municipal corporation. https://www.gov.il/he/pages/absorption-worker-1

From this, we learn that there are clear and binding guidelines for local authorities and municipal corporations.

After the tender is published in accordance with the law, there are several recruitment procedures depending on the seniority of the position and the intended role. It is important to note that in most cases, an internal tender must be issued within the organization if there are internal candidates interested in competing for the offered position or role.

The following are the types of employee screening and recruitment:

Fair and equitable process for junior positions: Generally, for junior or non-senior positions, a job posting may be published only on the council’s media sites or by proactively reaching out to potential employees. This process takes only a few days and is managed by the Human Resources Department

Examination Committee for Senior Positions – For recruiting senior officials such as the Legal Advisor, Treasurer, Auditor, Engineer, Secretary, or CEO. The composition of the Examination Committee is defined by local authority regulations and includes the Head of the Authority or their representative. Two plenary members selected by the council plenary, a professional appointed by the Ministry of the Interior, the authority’s CEO/secretary, and the legal advisor (if recruiting a legal advisor or CEO, another party will be appointed as a substitute in coordination).

Council Examination Committee for Certain Positions – The committee’s composition will be determined according to the position’s rank – in addition to the head of the authority or their appointee, the committee includes the direct professional manager of the field for which candidates are being recruited, public representatives appointed by the head of the authority who have undergone a conflict of interest review by the council’s legal advisor; and a professional representative from the Ministry of the Interior or the relevant government ministry (either as a committee member or as an observer). For certain senior-level positions, at least two public representatives must be members of the examination committee.

At the Zamarin Community Center, a personnel committee approved by the center’s management is responsible for employee recruitment. The Ministry of the Interior’s employee recruitment procedures also apply to the community center accordingly.

Some Key Points in the Recruitment Process

1. Equality and Equal Opportunity
2. Posting job information in accordance with Ministry of the Interior guidelines and in designated locations such as: social media, the council’s website, bulletin boards in the council building, and daily/local newspapers.
3. There are several key questions that must be asked of every candidate before the job interview begins. And, of course, the answers must be truthful: Does the candidate have any connection to any of the committee members? Does the candidate have any family ties to employees of the local authority? Does the candidate have any family or business ties to any of the council members?

Yours,

Limor Zar Gutman

The “Lema’an HaMoshava” Party