Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat on Sunday morning called to convene an urgent meeting in his office, threatening to break the coalition government amid a coalition crisis that threatens to topple the national government.

The mayor summoned officials for a meeting on Sunday at 4:00pm. While it is not believed this is the reason Barkat has called for the meeting, if the government falls over the draft bill, it is not unlikely that Mayor Barkat will announced his bid for the premiership. This will depend on a number of factors and if PM Netanyahu seeks another term, Mayor Barkat may announce he will run for a third term in office.

It does appear the urgent meeting is directly connected to the government crisis, for if the coalition decides to head to early elections, it will deepen the financial crisis in the city and the treasury, particularly Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon.

The information indicates that the subject of the meeting is the municipal budget. A deep and fraught crisis that has been going on for months (and some will say for years) between Mayor Barkat and Finance Minister Kahlon.

To examine what is happening in the political system, there may be three reasons for the urgent meeting. The first is to exploit the tense situation in the Finance Ministry and Kahlon’s offices in order to win a higher and better budget.

The second reason for the hasty summons is that Barkat fears that the government will declare its liquidation and then it will be harder for him to deal with the treasury in order to win a better budget.

But it is possible that the third reason behind the meeting, which is the progress on the day when the results of the special committee established to examine the municipality’s conduct and the budget required for it will be announced.

Either way, it seems that the meeting is expected to make significant decisions for residents of the capital. Whether it is a surprise that signals the agreement of the treasury or the taking of significant measures that will harm the city’s residents – such as the realization of the threats of mass layoffs – which will cause the city to be shut down.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)