The municipality is inviting Israeli tourists to forget their troubles for a short while and pay a visit to the capital, and while you’re there, fly on an omega – aerial rope adventure – climb on walls or enjoy other attractions.
Miriam Peretz – educator, a twofold bereaved mother, Israel Prize laureate, and losing candidate to Isaac Herzog in the recent presidential election – is currently the face of the campaign launched by Safra Square to boost local tourism. Her sweet, smiling face can be seen in several locations, inviting Israelis to spend some summer days in Jerusalem.
Peretz is also the mother of Elyasaf Peretz, recently appointed head of the municipality’s Culture Administration. According to sources at Safra Square, the decision to put the elder Peretz at the center of the campaign was made by an advertising company alone. The problem is that it’s not up to the PR people themselves to look into any potential conflict of interest in this particular choice, or if perhaps the mother’s appointment was just not a good choice.
That would be the responsibility of the head of the Culture Administration, or perhaps head of the Spokesperson and Information Department, which oversees the whole campaign – though apparently such a review has not taken place, according to a reliable source.
Moreover, the municipality – with its nearly 11,000 employees – also has a tourism department, but it was not involved, neither in the development of this campaign nor in the budget planning, says the source. Municipal officials with years of expertise regarding Jerusalem tourism were not invited to give their input. Neither was Deputy Mayor Fleur Hassan-Nahoum, who holds the Tourism portfolio. She says she was not informed and discovered the existence of the campaign only once it went out to the larger public.
The fact that Peretz’s son Elyasaf is a high-ranking official at the municipality is apparently a delicate matter. It should have been reviewed by various high-ranking officials and perhaps even the municipality’s legal adviser. The matter is seen as even more sensitive because Mayor Moshe Lion is known to be close to the Peretz family.
Peretz has decided to donate her salary from this campaign to a nonprofit association of her choice, not yet chosen, through the PR company.
A municipality spokesman said that the tender for the campaign was handled according to the strict regulations specified and that Peretz’s son was at no stage involved.