For eight years now, Meital Lehavi has been coming to work in the Tel Aviv municipality every day, and sees around her the complex task she has been entrusted with - urban transportation.
Because in Tel Aviv, the exit to the roads, the riding trails and the sidewalks is like a gamble: anyone who rides, drives or walks on it knows that he puts his soul in his palm - in the worst case he will be run over by a courier on an electric scooter / bicycle or fall into the light rail pit. Will stand for hours in huge traffic jams that lead nowhere.
But the endless Tel Aviv traffic jam is just one of the problems that are accumulating on the city council table, and we'll get to all of them later.
Lehavi, 62, who began her career as an opposition member and realized that this was an insignificant position, became deputy mayor Ron Huldai about eight years ago, in a move that raised eyebrows both among her supporters from the Meretz party and among her critics.
The clicks on the move she made now seem like nothing more than background noises, compared to the weight of Lehavi's task as head of one of the most complicated cases in Tel Aviv: the transportation case.
Lehavi hears the complaints about the state of transportation in the big volume every day and is not afraid to confront.
Some will say that it has adopted the arrogant approach that characterizes the "Rais" from the 12th floor, and some will say that it can also go all the way, that is, leave the 11th floor where it is in favor of the one floor above it.
In any case, recently it has also taken on the pride portfolio, and this morning, of course, the events under its responsibility in this field will culminate - with the parade in which more than one hundred thousand people will take part.
A tour of the light rail complex in Tel Aviv // Reporter: Sonia Gorodisky, Photo: Moshe Ben Simhon
"This is the first time I hold a portfolio that is in my eyes very emotional, very connecting to heart and soul. The fact that anyone can be here whoever they want to be, is amazing. I go through a very deep emotional experience in contact with people and understanding their courage in choosing their path and self-identity. "It's something that further reinforces in me the statement that in Tel Aviv you can be who you want to be."
Unfortunately, it is shrinking only to Tel Aviv, like many other things.
"On many issues, I say that Torah will come out of Tel Aviv. Tel Aviv has brought news to the entire country on a variety of issues - from early childhood education, through transportation and more. When you hear the Minister of Transportation quote what we did here in the city or other government ministers, you understand A way and a leader. "
What do you think about all the apocalyptic predictions that make Tel Aviv a city for the rich only, one that will no longer be the beating heart of Israeli culture?
"The first thing I see in Tel Aviv is that it is a city for everyone. Leave a city for the rich. First of all a city for everyone. I came here at the age of 17 and the way I progressed, relative to where I came from, was made possible by this city being open and giving options. "Continues his studies, finds jobs in a very creative way. Is there a Tel Avivian who has not ever worked as a waitress?
"The municipality accepts responsibility."
Protest over light rail works, Photo: Yehoshua Yosef
But it is impossible not to talk about real estate prices in the city.
"Today I would not be able to buy the apartment I bought 20 years ago or more - when it was still possible to buy apartments here. So part of the explanation is that Tel Aviv is a city by the sea, and that is something that attracts foreign residents. Traditionally it was for banks and insurance, people would buy with more sanity, buy housing units or pay rent more reasonably, because their access to life was more economical. People came from high-tech and allowed themselves.
"On the other hand, they also put in much higher tips than was customary here, and suddenly a student who is a bartender or a waiter can make a living like he can nowhere outside of Tel Aviv."
You fell asleep while standing in the affordable housing market and Airbnb apartments, and the horses ran away from the stable.
"We did not wake up on time and we still managed to fix and get ahead of our time. We made affordable housing for the Ichilov nurses, the caregivers on Ben Zion Boulevard, the teachers in the aliyah market, the Arabs.
We have an affordable housing project in Ganei Shapira, from which we learned about a new problem in which the tenants, at the end of five years, have to make room for those coming in line, because you did not give them a promise for life.
"The city's development levers are so big and pose a lot of challenges. We're going to face Airbnb as part of the property tax, when anyone who rents for more than three months for us is a business for everything and will pay business tax."
Messengers, we will meet in a round
For her role as the holder of the transportation portfolio, she has been receiving criticism on the streets and on social networks, in part because the data show a steady increase in casualties in everything related to the use of power tools (bicycles, scooters, etc.).
In addition, 1,400 different jobs are currently open in Tel Aviv - from the light rail through the TMA to improving the infrastructure - which only raises the risk threshold for leaving the house.
Can it be said that Tel Aviv is currently in a transport chaos that has never been seen in the history of the city?
"I agree, there is chaos, there is a sense of fear when walking the streets, one has to be very, very vigilant, and there are many actions we take to address this. Tel Aviv is a leading city in appealing to state authorities, please get enforcement powers. Enforcement powers for inspectors on city streets.
We would have preferred that even in this issue of scooter hazards and speeding on the streets, we get electronic enforcement powers and not rely on inspectors.
"The municipality gives me big budgets to carry out extensive information in schools, we do not publish it and maybe it's a mistake, but today in schools everyone goes through information about the transportation change that Tel Aviv goes through. In the end you give up the car and move to a scooter "Spring, this financial saving."
But your excuses are constant: the government does not give you authority, scooter companies do what they want - and in the end my children and parents are afraid to leave the house for fear that a messenger will run over them.
"You see these blues (Walt messengers; AR) in the streets and it's madness.
The first time I gathered them was in 2020, I brought all the companies to a zoom meeting, I was very nice.
I asked them to install a number on the bag (for identification), there was a problem with corona, no corona, import from China, no import from China, made a number of dardala that the apostles at all hang it upside down.
Last year I did another sitting, so I was no longer nice.
I threatened to go up to the Knesset and make the profession of emissary one that needed certification, even though I did not die doing it, because people who make a living from errands sometimes come for two or three months, and if they have to take half a year this course will not be worth it.
"So I brought the town's inspectorate and we went out for operations, slowly. We put up inspections where they ride, we also did an operation with the police, whoever escaped we waited for him in the round. Unfortunately - and I was very angry about it in real time - we did not know how to publicize it. "We are making an information tent for the emissaries here in Rabin Square, so that the companies will cooperate with us. But I only hear from people that it will not work, so please tell me what will work."
And again, the train is late
The light rail project, which was launched seven years ago, has transformed Tel Aviv - literally - and has since created difficulties not only for transportation but for private businesses and residents in general.
As the holder of the transportation portfolio in the city where most of the work is carried out, Lehavi does not spare criticism from those responsible.
"If you ask me to rate this project - I say, maybe, almost well. Maybe. And also because I hold the bag and try to be generous. Sorry. I think they set out with an archaic plan, which has not been updated over time, with a form of work that is not Arouses confidence among the residents.The level of damage is disproportionate due to the continuation of the works.
"When people pass by and see Ben Yehuda Street standing desolate and there is not a single medical worker, and meanwhile businesses are collapsing, residents are having a hard time - it is difficult to give an explanation for such a thing. Yes, rationalization says waiting for an electricity company Not interesting. The public is not interested. It's not a right hand but a left hand. To us, the municipality accepts responsibility towards its residents and acts in the best way it can and in the most professional manner, and I commit to that. "
"Courage in choosing the path."
Tel Aviv balcony in Pride Month, Photo: Coco
(NTA reported: The construction of a light rail in the heart of a dense urban volume is a challenging and complex project, and NTA invests a lot of time and resources in trying to reduce the disruption to residents in general, especially in Tel Aviv, where the company works in full coordination with the municipality and the RKL administration.
During the Corona period, I traveled around the country a lot, and in the end, the local authorities, and certainly the powerful ones, do not need the state.
"The state can be dismantled from education, because we will manage it better. The state can be dismantled from transportation, because we will operate the transportation system better. I pay a lot of tax to the state and relatively little property tax to the municipality, and the state wants to impose all its burdens on local authorities. All its inability to manage it. Do you want to do it? Do it, but do not take the money of Tel Aviv and give it to Yeruham. "Local. I see the country falling apart from everything. Really. And it hurts a lot for me."
As a Tel Avivian by birth, I must say that I have no problem with my taxes going to Yeruham, if they really went to education and the right things.
"I'm not saying there's nothing to do, I'm just saying that some of the taxes we collect are for giving us an education. If you want the local authority to run the education, you have to give budgets. It's worthwhile to be balanced. A rat always likes to say, 'When I started my term, the city was in deficit.' Does it have a form? "
At the end of Tel Aviv, it brings together the best minds, the best artists and the best Israeli society that passes through it, even if for a short period of time. But it seems that right now with the high prices, with the fact that it is impossible to walk down the street, maybe it's a little too much for this city as well.
"I first of all say that Tel Aviv is an amazing city, with extraordinary strengths of restoration, it was not built because of anyone. It has always been a unique city, even in the previous government, even when I came here and worked at the 'Little Tel Aviv' restaurant. "Aviv has one advantage, there is pride and local power here, and alongside them we have the ability to be global. If we know how to maintain the balance between globalization and localization, we have the opportunity to continue to be a world city, but also a city for all its inhabitants."
On a personal level, rumors of your goals for the next municipal elections are already running in the city when we are less than a year and a half into the event.
"At the moment I do not think there is anything to talk about, it is too early. We need to see what effect the national elections will have, if there are any. That I do. "
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