Weekly Update 50

August 22, 2025

Hello, everyone.

This week’s newsletter will cover the following topics:

• I regularly submit motions that are automatically rejected by the council chair’s majority without even a discussion on the matter. A refreshing exception to this occurred at the last meeting when the motion addressed an issue concerning residents of Park HaYayin, who also attended the meeting. The residents’ presence at the meeting brought the council chair to life. There was a discussion; he was friendly toward the residents and said they were welcome to call him. He doesn’t even respond to emails from council members as required by law. But he will answer the residents’ calls. One of the wonders of memory-based democracy…
• For a year and a half now, the council head has been systematically violating the law by failing to establish an executive committee. According to the law, this is a mandatory committee that must convene and publish minutes, allowing residents to read and know what the coalition is planning. After all, this is a committee of representatives from the coalition partys. It is an important tool for transparency toward residents. Following my motion on the agenda regarding this issue, the council head “woke up” and announced that he would bring a resolution to the next meeting to establish the committee. Why after a year and a half? And why is the legal advisor silent in the face of this ongoing violation?
• This week, parent groups from the Nili, HaHoresh, and Ya’avetz schools were up in arms. These are the schools that have organized transportation provided by the council. Unlike the HaHita School and the Moshava High School, whose students use regular public transportation.

The reason: the payment schedule for organized transportation showed that this year, parents will be forced to pay 76% more compared to the current year that has just ended. The council claimed that the Ministry of Education is to blame for the increase. It seems to me that the council also bears some responsibility, as it canceled the subsidy that was in the annual budget. The council head rushed to temporarily put out the fire and announced that they are considering increasing the subsidy, and for now, parents are not required to pay. Question: Where will the increase in the subsidy come from, since we did not approve it in the previous budget?

• What is happening with the stray cats in Zichron Yaakov? Read a brief update from Dr. Avigayil Dolev, a council member from our party who is addressing this important issue.

First issue: Why is the mayor afraid to discuss the motions I submit on behalf of the public? Is he afraid of a transparent and substantive public debate?

At the August meeting, I submitted two motions and two questions.

The mayor and his automatic majority refused to discuss the motions and removed them from the agenda.

Attached to this email is a file containing the two motions I submitted and the two questions. Incidentally, I also submitted two motions and two questions at the July meeting, as well as at the one before that. From now on, I will keep you regularly updated on this:

The first motion concerns a request from residents of the Park HaYin neighborhood who approached me regarding an issue they encountered with the council and the Regional Planning and Construction Committee. Following my invitation, several neighborhood residents attended the meeting and received a detailed response from the council head, who explained what they are required to do in light of the Regional Committee’s decision regarding their case. Abutbul promised that this decision would be published in the meeting minutes—so that it can be distributed to the residents. I was happy to assist the new residents who have joined the community.

Second issue: For a year and a half now, the council head has been systematically violating the law and has failed to establish an executive committee

The second motion I submitted paints a grim picture—the council has no executive committee. For a year and a half now, the council head has been violating the requirements of the law and the Local Authorities Ordinance.

The motion was simple and aimed to comply with the letter of the ordinance, and above all to establish the mandatory committee, the absence of which is evident in the council’s dysfunctional operation

A motion to comply with the law and finally appoint an executive committee. Nearly a year and a half has passed since the start of the term, and an executive committee—which is a mandatory committee in a local authority—has still not been appointed. This is an important committee in every local authority, and it is required to act in accordance with its powers and duties.

Approval of the establishment of this mandatory committee lies with the full council.

This committee is important to us, the residents, because it is required, like any committee, to publish minutes that allow us to know what the coalition is promoting and other essential information. The committee also oversees the actions of the council chair and serves as another check and balance.

For a year and a half, the council head has been flouting the law and has not established an executive committee. Attorney Barzilai, the authority’s legal advisor—remains silent (this is a factual description). I expect the legal advisor to come and tell the council head without hesitation after just two months: “You must establish an executive committee. This is a legal requirement. You are in violation of the law. This is a law intended for the benefit of the residents, because this is a committee that, by law, is obligated to report to the residents.”

At the meeting, the council chairman evaded the issue with the excuse that he was waiting until he completed his coalition, that he intended to do so, and that it had even been on the agenda for the meeting but he removed it because the legal advisor was on reserve duty and he wanted to do it in his presence. I wasn’t really convinced by these excuses. He said he would bring the executive committee’s approval to the next meeting for the plenary’s approval. And so, finally, after a year and a half, they will comply with the law. And there will be another supervisory body over the council head. Hopefully, it will actually supervise and no longer be a puppet of Abutbul.

First inquiry—I presented this in the previous newsletter.

The second inquiry dealt with budget matters—expenses that were supposed to come from the council budget without us being told at the meeting what the exact budget line item was from which they would be taken. This is something the treasurer must do because you cannot spend money “from the budget”; you need a specific budget line item that corresponds to it and has been approved. Therefore, immediately after that meeting, I sent emails to the treasurer, who, of course, did not respond. I proceeded to submit the inquiry, and now the treasurer has answers. Yet another wonder of “memory-based” democracy…

Third issue: A dramatic increase in the prices of organized transportation for some schools

This week, parent groups from the Nili, HaHoresh, and Ya’avetz schools were up in arms. These are the schools that have organized transportation provided by the council. Unlike the HaHita School and the Moshava High School, which use regular public transportation.

The reason: the payment schedule for organized transportation showed that this year, parents will be forced to pay 76% more.

• For a regular round-trip ride, those eligible under the Ministry of Education’s criteria paid 330 NIS per year in 2025. In the new year, they are required to pay 630 NIS per year.
• For a regular round-trip ride, those who were not eligible paid 625 NIS per year in 2025. In the new year, however, they are required to pay 1,100 NIS per year.

The council claimed that the Ministry of Education is to blame for the increase. It seems to me that the council also bears some responsibility because it eliminated the subsidy that was in the annual budget. The council head rushed to temporarily put out the fire and announced that they are considering increasing the subsidy and that for now, parents are not required to pay.

An important question is where the increased subsidy will come from, since we did not approve it in the previous budget. I will continue to monitor this. Because, again, you cannot simply take money “from the budget”; you need authorization under a specific budget line item approved by the full council. This is exactly the same principle I emphasized in the inquiry I submitted and wrote about here.

Fourth issue: Stray cats – an update from Dr. Avigayil Dolev, a member of our party who is addressing this important issue

The issue of cat sterilization is part of our quality of life in the moshava, as it humanely reduces the cat population just as there is a need to reduce the wild boar population. Therefore, as part of environmental awareness, the budget for cat spaying should be increased to 100,000 NIS, and we must ensure that spaying is performed before the breeding season rather than waiting until after it, as is currently the case.

I intend to implement a spaying and neutering campaign as well as feeding stations for cats—a practice already in place in many progressive municipalities in Israel. Additionally, feeding stations for wildlife can be established as part of environmental studies and education in schools, through research and learning.

I hope that the mayor and all council members will support this plan, and that Zichron will become a leading model for cat care.