"We are in a reality in which we have to choose the least worst," Welfare and Social Security Minister Yaakov Margi told My City after his Shas faction mate, Interior Minister Moshe Arbel, announced that he would agree to postpone the municipal elections by another month to February 27, 2024. Today, the government decided to allow the postponement of the election to this date - a move that still requires Knesset approval.
"All the options on the table are bad. There is a violation of the right to vote, and there is a violation of the right to be elected, and the voice of the people must also be heard," the minister said. "I wouldn't want them to say again that the government is out of touch with the people. In the end, it is the public that decides its elected officials, and at the moment the public is not available to clarify this issue."
Local elections (illustrative), photo: Noam Rivkin Fenton
Minister Arbel's decision came after he insisted on not changing the date of the elections – despite the pleas of coalition members in the Knesset and candidates serving in the reserves. Margi was asked what his reaction was to the fact that the decision appeared to be a political deal between Religious Zionism and Shas. "There is no political deal," he declared. "The interior minister has always said that if you want to change, you have to bring it before the Interior Committee."
Is this the position, or the position of former minister Aryeh Deri?
"A decision by both. I think the party chairman is attentive to the voices on the ground."
Right: Adir Schwartz, Keren Green and Aryeh Abramzon, photo: None
Kadima Zoran Council head Keren Green, who took part in the discussion at the studio, told Minister Margi: "You can't always stretch decisions to the limit. On December 31 at 11pm you will be updated. You can't go about it that way. Then you'll postpone another month and then another six months or a year, and you're dragging an entire system here that is constantly functioning in uncertainty."
Margie: I wish there was more certainty. I agree with you. Last Sunday, at a cabinet meeting held in the Kirya, the interior minister sought to put this on the agenda. The prime minister asked for consultations first – and refused to bring it up."
Jerusalem City Council member Adir Schwartz, chairman of the city's Awakening movement: "40% of my sitting council members are currently in Gaza. A third of our new list is in Gaza. Half of the movement's members are in reserve duty – and those who are not busy with tasks on the home front. Since October 7, I have been running the civilian war room in Jerusalem. The choice that the state is making this morning for candidates that they have to choose to either continue their reserve service or give up their candidacy for the council is, in my view, a moral and moral bankruptcy towards these candidates. This is a fundamental blow to democracy."
The full interview in episode 17 of "My City" from Israel Hayom. Listen to the episode - and other interesting episodes
Wrong? We'll fix it! If you find a mistake in the article, please share with us