The Knesset Interior Committee on Sunday approved a bill that calls for appointing a deputy mayor to serve the non-Jewish population of an authority in which the non-Jewish population comprises at least 20% of the authority. The bill is scheduled to move to Knesset for additional votes next week. The bill excludes Jerusalem, which already has eight deputy mayors who receive a salary.

Proponents of the bill feel in mixed authorities, where there is a religious or national minority, there is a problem of minority representation in the same authority. In most of the mixed authorities, there is no deputy head of an authority representing the minority in the local authority, since deputy chiefs of the Authority, and especially paid deputies, are appointed for coalition reasons.

For example, in Lod, where more than 25% of the population is Arab, there is no Arab deputy to the head of the authority. The deputies elected by the Lod Council were chosen from other parties because of the need to form a coalition. Thus, the Arab minority in the city, which is larger than 25%, is not represented in the city administration. Therefore, it was suggested that a local authority with a religious or national minority of more than 20% but less than 50% would be entitled to appoint a deputy head of another authority that is a member of the minority.

According to Knesset Interior Committee Chairman MK (Likud) Yoav Kisch, “The right to represent minority populations is especially important in local government, and we have come to correct a lack of representation for entire populations, which have more difficult access to the municipality.”

He noted that the head of the authority would be given the option of choosing whether the non-Jewish deputy would be paid or not, or in the paying the person for a portion of the term and a portion with a wage. This is contrary to the original opinion of the law’s proponents. He suggested that the status of large cities such as Tel Aviv be discussed later in the legislation.

MK (Likud) David Bitan who represented the bill’s proposer, MK (Likud) David Amsalem, sought to exclude Jerusalem, since the city has a separate law. “The cities in question are Lod, Acre, Ramle, Nazareth Illit and Maalot-Tarshiha.

Gilad Keren, the legal adviser to the committee, suggested that instead of defining a religious or national minority, “non-Jewish” will be determined, according to the Interior Ministry or the Central Bureau of Statistics or the Central Bureau of Statistics. According to Itai Temkin, a treasury official, the additional of a paid deputy mayor in the municipalities mentioned would cost between NIS 700,000 and NIS 1 million and he therefore demands that the addition of another deputy mayor only apply in an authority with a balanced budget.

In addition, it was proposed in the law that a local authority with two religious or national minorities would be joined by two deputies who belong to each minority group that will serve in its office.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)