Reports from Beit Shemesh signal dissatisfaction with the administration’s performance to date by members of the opposition. According to a Kikar Shabbos report, opposition leader Eli Cohen has told colleagues that if the mayor continues to ignore the needs of 49% of the city, he will feel compelled to work towards dividing the city.
After Mayor Rabbi Moshe Abutbul emerged the victor in the court-ordered reelection, there have been audible demands for seceding from the city by opposition members who feel the city should be divided, to break away from the growing chareidi Ramat Beit Shemesh area.
Following the election Cohen announced that he accepts the decision of the voters, but he may now be leaning towards following the momentum of those who wish to break away from the chareidi city government.
Akiva Weingarten, who was Cohen’s advisor on chareidi affairs in the election, told Kikar Shabbos that Cohen remains opposed to breaking the city into two, but admits “under the current reality he does not have many options”. Weingarten added “It is most unfortunate that Abutbul is losing the last member of the Zionist camp that opposed splitting the city”.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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3 Responses
how about splitting the state?
According to the reports I saw Abutbul tried to bring the opposition into a coalition but they wouldn’t come. Who’s responsible for splitting the city?
I dont know what “reports” you saw, but the opposition (also known as the gush hatzioni) made every effort to join the coalition under reasonable conditions. Abutbol refuses to even talk to them until after Pesach, and even then he made it very clear that he’s not interested in joining with those who were against him in the elections.