Bill giving responsibility of paying mayors' security to gov't approved

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Knesset members unanimously passed in its first reading a bill giving the government responsibility to finance the security of mayors "under threat" on Wednesday. In response to the plenum decision, the bill's initiator, Labor MK Ophir Paz-Pines said that it was "a miracle that no mayor has been killed yet… Municipal leaders have already been shot at, have had grenades hurled at them and have had bombs placed under their cars." "It is the state's responsibility to protect the public's elected officials and to help them complete their work without fear," Pines continued. "We mustn't pass this responsibility over to local authorities that lack the appropriate resources." Several weeks ago, police representatives at the Knesset's Internal Affairs Committee informed the forum that 13 mayors are presently under high threat. A further 15 senior municipal officials, director-generals and treasures are in similar positions.