After there was no progress in the investigation: Miriam Fierberg returned to the municipality of Netanya (photo: Avi Cohen, editing: Vared Lidani)
The chairman of the coalition, MK Ofir Katz of the Likud, is promoting a proposal according to which heads of local authorities or heads of regional councils will enjoy immunity from arrest, similar to members of the Knesset.
The bill submitted by MK Katz upon the swearing-in of the 25th Knesset, and a copy of which was received by Walla!, states that the head of a local authority or regional council will not be arrested by the police except in the case of being caught "while committing a crime involving the use of force or disturbing the peace, or treason ", a wording similar to the one that currently exists for members of the Knesset.
MK Katz claims that the bill is intended to prevent a situation in which the heads of authorities are arrested, but after many years of "exhausting procedures, they are cleared of all suspicion."
According to him, the period of detention harms the functioning of the municipality and affects "public opinion".
The explanatory notes to the bill state that "an arrest made in public can significantly harm an elected official. Many cases have been recorded in which elected officials in the local authorities and regional councils, who were acquitted of any blame,
"A public arrest can significantly harm an elected official."
Katz (Photo: Reuven Castro)
The bill also states that "the heads of local authorities are required to take many decisions during their term of office, which affect the daily lives of the residents and other factors in the authority in which they serve. Naturally, these accumulate enemies and opponents, and the fear of harassment exists. The bill will make it possible to create a system of protection against severe mental damage which may arise from the arrest procedure".
Recently, a cloud of suspicion has been hovering over the mayor of Petach Tikva, Rami Greenberg of the Likud.
Greenberg was arrested last August after the suspicion arose that in 2018 he received hundreds of thousands of shekels from various stakeholders for the purpose of promoting his election campaign that year.
About a month ago, he was brought in for another investigation on the matter, for the third time.
The person responsible for the details of the investigation told Wala!
Because in his estimation, a state witness in the case is expected to sign a settlement soon.
The police attribute to the incumbent mayor involvement in the commission of crimes of bribery, fraud and breach of trust, false registration in corporate documents, money laundering and crimes according to the Income Tax Ordinance and the Value Added Tax Law.
More in Walla!
Published: Petah Tikva Mayor Rami Greenberg was arrested on suspicion of corruption
To the full article
Arrested and interrogated 3 times.
Rami Greenberg (Photo: Reuven Castro)
However, at least ten heads of authorities were recently cleared of a suspicion that had been hanging over them for a long time.
Some of them were detained for certain periods, including Miriam Fierberg, mayor of Netanya, Ilan Shochat, former mayor of Safed and Israel Singer, former mayor of Ramat Gan.
It is possible that MK Katz submitted the bill because of the number of cases in recent years, but this raises questions about how different the heads of local authorities are from their deputies or ordinary people who may face a lengthy police investigation, but will eventually be cleared of all suspicion.
The position of granting immunity to the heads of local authorities Prominent mayors have also spoken in the past. Haim Bibbs, chairman of the local government center and mayor of Modi'in-Maccabim-Reot, said in the past that "they need to be protected just like a member of the Knesset, otherwise we will soon find ourselves with mediocre people and below."
"Cases end in nothing - but the shame burns in the mind"
MK Katz said in response that "This is an important bill, which I also submitted in the previous parliaments, which is intended to fight corruption and prevent the situations of unjustly severe mental damage.
I researched the issue and found dozens of cases where these cases start with a big bang, and end with nothing, but the shame and bad conscience burns.
There are heads of authorities who were seriously affected electorally by these arrests, lost the mayorship, and the case was closed.
It is important to emphasize - those who broke the law should be investigated.
The bill does not include violent offenses or the use of physical force that endangers another person."
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