Agenda Proposal 1

August 29, 2025

To:

Mr. Eli Abutbul, Council Chairman
Mr. Danny Bitan, Council Secretary
All Members of the Council Plenary

Distinguished colleagues,

I have served as Chair of the Council’s Environmental Quality Committee for nearly a year. Environmental quality is a central and vital issue in the daily life and development of our community. However, in light of the climate crisis that we are all acutely aware of, the committee’s functioning and success have become critical.

During my tenure, the committee has met seven times. This is more than the minimum required by law, which is one meeting per quarter. The reason was my genuine desire, and that of all committee members, to advance important issues such as mitigating urban heat through various means, encouraging tree planting and preservation, proper recycling, reducing the hazard of fireplaces, and more.

However, the committee is unable to carry out its important work due to overt and covert lack of cooperation on the part of the council chairman. At the last plenary session—and I knew this even before it took place—we all heard that the council chairman had explicitly instructed council staff not to respond to my inquiries, and that he himself does not intend to respond to my inquiries on any matter. I will cite just two examples of this boycott in the context of the Environmental Quality Committee’s work:

• In February 2024, the committee secured a donation of 100 trees from the JNF to be distributed free of charge to residents of the community so they could plant them in their yards on the side closest to the sidewalk. The reason is clear: to create additional shaded space as part of residents’ well-being and to mitigate the urban heat island effect. All that is required of the council is to fund the transport truck that will bring the saplings to the community. To date, the funding for this has not been secured. And we are talking about just a few thousand shekels.
• The committee, and particularly committee member and architect Yael Gilad, has been working on preparing a draft policy document on green building and urban heat mitigation. To advance the policy proposed in the document, the committee needed to hold another meeting with the council head. I am aware of the council head’s health issues (and we wish him good health) and his busy schedule. But, strangely enough, the only time he suggested for the committee meeting was in the morning on the very Wednesday that I am lecturing at the faculty, and presumably the other volunteers are working during those hours.

Generally, committee meetings are held in the afternoon because we are all volunteers. But I was told that this was the only available time. I relented and allowed the committee to proceed even though only two members were present at the meeting. Four committee members, including myself, did not attend. But I agreed because the issue is critical and must be addressed quickly. I also realized that a date suitable for me would never be set.

From these examples, it is clear that those harmed by this boycott against me are the residents of the community. The boycott undermines the committee’s ability to advance and carry out the many critical tasks before us. For this reason, I have decided to resign from the committee and ask you to select a replacement for me today, one who comes solely from the ranks of the coalition—preferably a council member for whom environmental issues are close to their heart.

I have never sought a position or honor for myself. I am guided solely by the good of the community and its people. And so I do the same today—I ask you to replace me with a council member close to the mayor so that the committee and its esteemed members can function for the benefit of the entire community.

Sincerely

Dr. Limor Zar Gutman, Esq.

Council Member

“Lema’an HaMoshava” Party

Limor Zar-Guttman

Lema’an HaMoshava Party.