After 3 terms of entanglement in crimes - is Hadera on a path free from public corruption? - Walla! native

Hadera, one of the largest and most central cities on the coast, has been dealing with corruption cases one after the other for the past 15 years.

The Supreme Court dismissed Mayor Zvika Gendelman's return to the mayor's seat until the end of his trial on charges of fraud and breach of trust, obtaining something fraudulently, and obstruction of justice.

Nir Ben Haim, who has been acting mayor of Hadera for a year, was on Monday this week in another one of the endless meetings in his office, when the decision of the Supreme Court arrived that as of now he remains in office, until further notice.

Three judges of the Supreme Court, unanimously, decided that the elected mayor, Lt. Col. (Res.) Zvika Gendelman will remain suspended.

In October 2021, the prosecutor's office filed an indictment against Gendelman, among other things, for fraud and breach of trust, and as a result, in January 2022, he was suspended from his post as mayor of Hadera for six months.

The Supreme Court mentioned that "it is not possible to accept a situation where the term of office of the head of the local authority continues as a series when serious criminal charges are pending against him".

This, "because of the serious damage caused to the purity of morals and public trust in the public service".

The judges state that there was a fundamental flaw in the decision of the government committee to examine the suspension, which believed that he could be reinstated, due to the continuation of the proceedings.

The summary of things: they annulled the committee's decision and the conditional order for Gendelman's suspension becomes absolute.

In practice, this means that Nir Ben Haim remains in the mayor's office, apparently at least until the local elections of October 2023.

Ben Haim, 52 years old, is a native of Hadera who, at the age of 23, started working in the Hadera municipality as an electrician, joined the workers' committee and later was elected head of the workers' committee for two terms.

Later he was the head of the Histadrut in the Hadera-Shomron area.

In 2018, he was elected to the city council for the first time and his list "The City of All of Us", which was supported by the Kulanu party, obtained three seats in the city council.

Nir Ben Haim, the mayor of Hadera, "It seems to me a natural thing to run for mayor" (Photo: Shlomi Gabai)

First interview after the High Court decision

How did the High Court decision affect you?

"We were in the middle of a meeting on how to improve such and such municipal properties and improve them in order to generate income for the city for the coming period.

Suddenly people started sending text messages, came in and said that a decision was expected at 10:00.

And then of course I was informed."

"Most real, in real time you are on the move and don't notice.

But then when I finished the session it seeped in.

You begin to analyze and internalize.

You read what they decided and what they wrote.

You start to understand.

You have to remember that it started six months ago.

Then another week, and another month, until September, and three more months, now on the face of it, it seems that for now it will be very difficult to get him back."

"I feel sorry for Zvika, he is a good and beloved person in the city. I don't get involved in what happened. I don't deal with it at all. There is a prosecutor's office, there is a court. As soon as they decided to suspend him, then I am here for the city and for the residents. I received the municipality for six months and came to serve. I realized pretty quickly that you can't just deal with the day-to-day and avoid decisions regarding the medium and long term as well. I had to decide on building schools, on developing the beach, and these are significant and difficult decisions, but there was no choice. So you take into account that you are here without knowing how long Time. That can also continue. I worked on two levels. Short and long."

Fishermen's Beach, Hadera (Photo: Shlomi Gabai)

How is your relationship with Tzvika?

"The relationship is very good. Due to the constraints of both of us, it's not really an everyday matter and the last time I saw him was three weeks ago at an event that we both shared. We talked. He was also at the city council meeting a month and a half ago. The decision now is not pleasant. It's hard and I understand. I Sorry for the situation. But we both know that it is up to the court and we are both clean and will respect any decision. Even if they would allow him to return."

"I was not brought here from the outside, God forbid. You have to remember that I was acting mayor before. At first with a title and then with a salary.

So I was a substitute and I remained a substitute.

As long as a court decides that Zvika returns, then his place is.

of course.

If not, then I continue to fill a position, with all the powers of a mayor.

Everyone understands and accepts it." Your

"As someone who has grown in the public sector for thirty years, as someone who started in the municipality of Hadera, as someone who was chairman of the municipality's workers' committee, chairman of a region in the Histadrut for two terms, ten years, I managed budgets and did many things, as someone who works according to the law, I do everything in order While it's time to move the city forward and I've been doing it for the past year, I don't do anything without the legal advisor and treasurer, and in matters of planning and construction, so does the city engineer, and I don't sit alone with any external party. Those who have these key positions in the local authority are the ones who guide me. You can call it careful. I happen to work in an orderly manner. Work by the book."

Started as an electrician - ended up as mayor

You started as an electrician in the municipality, you represented the workers in the committee and in the Histadrut - does that have an advantage?

"And another way it gives me an advantage. Every day. For example today, in the storm, I was ready, nothing caught me by surprise. Knows how to clear the fallen trees, knows how to sweep the streets so that our potholes don't get blocked, knows how to prepare the electricians with the trucks on standby. Knows how to take care To the employees in the municipality and certainly to those who are in the field on a day like this with warm clothing and a hot meal. They give their soul and are the most important resource we have and we need to know how to harness them to the task and how to derive maximum benefit from them for the city."

"There is still a lot to do. By 2024, I need another school here and we need more kindergartens. There is the whole theme of the sea. We must not stop. This is a critical step for her. Our city is developing at an unbelievable pace. Only in the last year we crossed the 100,000 mark residents when we grew by about 15 thousand residents to about 110 thousand. The construction brings the residents to our city. According to all the predictions, within 15 years we will double ourselves to about a quarter of a million residents.

There was Tel Aviv, there were Herzliya and Netanya, and the next step is us.

Obviously this is because of the apartment prices and this is exactly the point in time that we need to pay attention to getting what other gates are getting.

That's why we learn everything we need from these cities, for example to have an industrial area as required and the residents to have a proper beach and to have first class public buildings.

The residents come and the businesses come.

Here Rafael is coming, and Microsoft is coming and you have to deal with this development every day."

Are you running for the presidency of Hadera in the upcoming elections?

"I am the de facto mayor, with all the powers of a mayor. This means that I am paving the way to the next stage. When we reach a stage where we will have to start a campaign, then we will announce and go. In the meantime, I am working with the residents and the workers and the business owners who operate in the city, and it is natural that if the residents who see that I am A service provider will want me to continue, I'm not the one to stop it. In my view, this job is to provide a service. We are not a factory. We do not produce products. We provide a service and people know how to recognize it. Thank you once every five years, at the ballot box. I also went through election campaigns for a workers' committee, Also in the Histadrut, also in the municipality, and now, with God's help, maybe even to the mayor. It seems natural to me, and maybe that's why I don't bother with it either. They don't see me messing with public relations. They see me working. I don't rule out the possibility of continuing. I'm here for the residents. They determine."

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• Hadera

• corruption

• Zvika Gendelman