The Interior Ministry altered the regulations on the
formation of distribution committees at the local authorities
as well as a decision by the director of the ministry.
Following the petition filed by Betzedek it was decided to
reinstate the elected officials to the Distribution Committee
at the local authorities, replacing the unelected city
officials recently appointed.
Anyone who has ever walked the corridors of city hall is all
too familiar with the experience of encountering unelected
officials who pile up an endless series of obstacles on the
way to approving land allocations for public institutions.
"This may be done to justify the salary or an attempt to wear
away at the appellants' power at a time when they are
struggling under the burden of student crowding," said
Betzedek Director Attorney Rabbi Mordechai Green. Following a
Betzedek appeal, the Interior Ministry determined elected
officials should be included in all proceedings to allocate
land for public institutions.
The City Locating Committee locates areas designated for
public use in the area adjacent to every area of land and
designates the land or building for public use, such as
schools, botei knesses, mikvo'os, etc. as it
deems appropriate. Although the Distribution Committee's
decisions are only considered recommendations to the local
authority plenum, the council is obligated to approve their
decisions or provide grounds for its refusal, and the refusal
is subject to court review.
In the past every locating committee was comprised of five
members: three members of the local authority, the legal
advisor and the general accountant. The Interior Ministry's
previous director general, who was appointed by Minister
Avraham Poraz (Shinui), issued instructions to remove all of
the elected officials from the distributing committees.
Chareidi organizations were the primary victims since
government institutions and supporting organizations
(including the national-religious sector) are generally
recognized as institutions belonging to the local authority.
Therefore they receive land holdings from the authority
without the need for going through the distributing
committee.
Betzedek, founded by Agudas Yisroel of America, filed a High
Court petition pointing out the illegality of the previous
director general's directive. In the petition Attorney Green
demonstrated the special significance of the distributing
committees. Improper decisions by these committees can lead
to the construction of institutions unsuited to the area and
block the allocation of lands or buildings of great
importance for meeting the public's needs in a certain area,
as took place at several local authorities, causing
irreversible and intolerable damage to the population of the
area.
Betzedek attacked the trampling of democratic values, noting
that the public's elected representatives, the members of the
local authority, are no longer authorized to make decisions
for the sake of the residents based on the policy they
espouse, for according to the new regulation the unelected
officials set the policy, thereby thwarting the voters'
wishes to lead their lives as they see fit. The damage to the
public can be critical since determining policy in every
respective location involves considering the public's real
needs, the land reserves required for future plans, etc. Any
tendentious decision in these matters can harm the area for
many years, even altering its character, the composition of
the population and its spiritual institutions.
The new director general at the Interior Ministry had to
respond to the appeal. In reaction he recently announced new
directives according to which local authorities may set up a
new subcommittee composed solely of elected members of the
local authority. The subcommittee will be authorized to
recommend to the city council why they upheld or denied the
distributing committee's decisions.
Recently legal advisors at various local authorities,
including the City of Jerusalem's legal advisor, issued
directives in keeping with the spirit of the change and it
appears the problem has been thoroughly remedied from the
perspective of the chareidi public.
