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NEWS
Jerusalem City Council Coalition
by Betzalel Kahn
The Jerusalem City Council approved Mayor Rabbi Uri
Lupoliansky's new coalition in a majority vote last week in
addition to the appointment of deputy mayors, a permanent
alternate for the mayor, administrative committees and
chairman for the various committees.
The new coalition is comprised of United Torah Jewry, Shas,
the Mafdal. The Likud was supposed to join but could not
because of internal difficulties at the last minute. It is
expected to join soon. Meretz is also expected to join the
coalition, after its party institutions approve an agreement
reached with the mayor on the executive tasks the party will
receive.
At a City Council meeting held last Thursday night in the
City Council hall the Mayor repeatedly called on City Council
Member Nir Barkat to join the broad coalition. Rabbi
Lupoliansky expressed his regret that Barkat demanded the
title of permanent deputy mayor as a precondition for joining
the coalition. Rabbi Lupoliansky offered Barkat a high-level
economic portfolio including commerce and tourism, which
would have allowed him to realize his vision of bringing
industry and enterprise to Jerusalem, but Barkat declined.
The new deputy mayors approved by the City Council include
Rabbi Uri Maklev (UTJ), Rabbi Yehoshua Pollack (UTJ), Rabbi
Shlomi Attias (Shas), Rabbi Eliezer Simchayof (Shas), and
Shmuel Shakedi (Mafdal). Yigal Amedi (Likud), who will also
serve as alternate mayor, is also to be a deputy mayor once
Likud joins.
Deputy Mayor Rabbi Uri Maklev will be in charge of chareidi
education; Deputy Mayor Rabbi Yehoshua Pollack will be in
charge of the department of city planning (except for
business licensing); Deputy Mayor Rabbi Shlomi Attias will be
in charge of welfare, the section for urban beautification
and chairman of the interdepartmental committee for
educational welfare; Deputy Mayor Rabbi Eliezer Simchayof
will be in charge of the treasury; Alternate Mayor and Deputy
Mayor Yigal Amedi is to be in charge of culture, the sports
authority and communal administrations and neighborhoods; and
Deputy Mayor Shmuel Shakedi will be in charge of
education.
Other portfolios also approved by the City Council included
Rabbi Avraham Feiner, Torah culture; Rabbi Yaakov Shnor,
transportation and engineering services; Rabbi Shlomo
Rosenstein, public health services; Rabbi Yosef Lok, public
buildings; Rabbi Shlomo Malik, in charge of the city hotline
and resident services; Rabbi Yosef Levi, chareidi services;
Rabbi Shlomo Barska (Shas), chareidi sport; Mina Fenton
(Mafdal), foreign relations, the Jewish people, the Jewish
legacy and other portfolios; David Hadari (Mafdal), in charge
of youth movements, youth organizations, the elderly,
community work, the Nahal Brigade and East Jerusalem; Yoram
Karshi (Likud), emergency and security.
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