By PEGGY CIDORA ‘garbage mountain’ at the Mahaneh Yehuda shuk, a result of the municipal strike in January 2017.(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
Close to the end of the third day of the municipal strike that had wreaked so much havoc on the capital, a phone call from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Mayor Nir Barkat put an end to it all.Behind the scenes, Jerusalem Affairs Minister Ze’ev Elkin intervened, with even an attempt to involve President Reuven Rivlin. This culminated in Barkat’s understanding that he had to finally find a way to climb down.The outcomes of these three days didn’t add up to a success story – though the dramatic resignation of three Yerushalmim list members from Barkat’s coalition at Monday evening’s city council meeting was somewhat expected. Not surprisingly, the mayor immediately labeled it another hostile act by Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, targeting him.The backstory? Barkat faced growing criticism and anger from the public for having launched the strike, as well as harsh criticism from other members of his coalition, though they did not resign. By Tuesday afternoon, it was clear Barkat was looking for a way out. He has obtained some “honorable conditions” to stop the strike that has cost him, thus far, three city council members; a powerful deputy mayor, Meir Turgeman, who openly distanced himself from the strike; and less-than-adequate solutions to Jerusalem’s budget problems.No one speaks anymore about the NIS 800 million that drove Barkat to this move. For the moment, the only achievements Barkat can point to are an official invitation for him to be a guest at the next government meeting this Sunday (February 5), and a vague promise to answer the needs of the city’s education system. Nor is it clear for now if Interior Minister Aryeh Deri’s initiative to instruct his CEO to appoint a supervisor for the city’s chief accountant – who is not a municipality employee but (ironically) is connected to the Finance Ministry – is still relevant.WHAT WENT on in Jerusalem, and behind the scenes in Safra Square, during the contentious strike? By Monday afternoon, the second day of the strike, much of the city was already plagued by a tsunami of garbage and dirt. Close to Mahaneh Yehuda, a disabled woman was lifted into an ambulance by paramedics after she slipped and fell on her back. As she screamed in pain, passersby who had called the ambulance shook their heads, expressing anger and frustration about the chaos before them.“This is a war between the politicians, but we, the residents, are the only ones who suffer,” concluded one woman on the scene.On the third day of the strike, when things looked as if they couldn’t get any worse, it was decided to shut down the municipal kindergartens (afternoon programs had been canceled the day before), officially due to a decision of the Histadrut to hold staff meetings on the meaning and purpose of the strike.It appeared that the storm inside Safra Square was no less fierce and harmful than the one going on outside.Yerushalmim’s former chairwoman Rachel Azaria is today a Kulanu MK, and Barkat accused her of being part of the machinations against him personally and against his efforts for the city. In a press release, the mayor declared that the resignation of “Kahlon’s people” from the council has “no impact whatsoever,” since he heads a solid coalition of 27 members, largely supported by the parents’ association and the Histadrut labor association.As of Tuesday morning, though only the three members of Yerushalmim had left Barkat’s coalition, two additional coalition members were also expressing, albeit cautiously, their growing disagreement with Barkat’s moves and with the heavy toll the strike was taking on residents.“The claim is valid,” said city councilman Arieh King (United Jerusalem), “but this certainly is not the way to handle it. At city council, we warned Barkat again and again not to do anything that could burden residents and harm schoolchildren, but he was not listening to the voice of reason.”Moreover, there were indications that the city helm is no longer only in the hands of Barkat, but in a strange partnership with the head of the Histadrut’s Jerusalem district, Danny Bonfil. According to reliable sources at Safra Square, at a recent meeting of the council management forum, while debating the decision to go on strike, Bonfil – who is not a member of that council – sat at Barkat’s side and took the liberty of talking to the members (something rarely allowed). In response to one of the haredi councilmen who felt the strike shouldn’t harm residents, Bonfil said that the city council members’ opinions didn’t matter, since he is the one who decides what the next steps are. According to King and another councilman from the haredi benches, Barkat didn’t stop him.On the first day of the strike – when Barkat, Bonfil, the heads of municipality committees and some haredi councilmen stood on a bulldozer blocking the road near the Finance Ministry – Turgeman, deputy mayor, president of the Planning and Construction Committee and member of Barkat’s own Jerusalem Will Succeed list, was not there at his side. Nor was Turgeman found at any of the meetings of the striking employees, and he uttered no words of support for the mayor’s steps.Following the resignations, city councilwoman Fleur Hassan-Nahum (Yerushalmim) said that Barkat’s stubborn refusal to play by the rules has cost the city a heavy price.“I am not attacking him and do not revile him as others do,” she asserted. “Barkat has done good things for this city and he means well, but he cannot bend everything and everyone. There are rules, and I see that he has lost the meaning of what his role should be.”WHILE THIS is not the first year that residents are witnessing the ritual arm wrestling between the mayor (all mayors) and the Treasury over special budgets needed by the city, many red lines have been crossed this time.Since the 1980s when legendary mayor Teddy Kollek installed his desk in front of the Knesset as a heavy hint for more money to meet the needs of Jerusalem’s population, through mayors Ehud Olmert and Uri Lupolianski, this has been an ugly annual event that pits the mayor – any mayor – against the finance minister (any minister). Both sides battle until they find a way to settle things. It seems this city is doomed to live the same drama again and again.Last year the tension between Barkat and Kahlon reached a highly sensitive point, and although both sides found a way to climb down from their positions, it was clear something was inherently wrong.Barkat’s claim that this city has unique needs and requires special attention and special large budgets is correct and reflects reality. Every year, NIS 750m. to NIS 800m. in arnona (property tax) is lost to the municipality because the national government legislated that large families, people living below the poverty line and religious institutions are exempted from this tax, which is the primary source of the city’s budget. Thus, about a third of the population does not contribute, lawfully, to the city’s economy – and the government has always refused to cover this gap. The capital, as a result, has the highest rate of arnona.Moreover, since the government hasn’t built new classrooms for the growing needs in the Arab and haredi sectors, the municipality is spending huge sums on renting rooms for that purpose, and that money is not refunded to the city’s budget.“This city needs extra financial support; this is a justified request,” said Hassan-Nahum, “but why must things be done in a way that adversely affects Jerusalem residents and their children? Barkat may seem a bit less convincing when he is busy paving his way to national politics.”