UTJ joined the municipal coalition in Beit Shemesh this week
after party representatives Rabbi Moshe Montag, Rabbi Dovid
Weiner and Rabbi Avrohom Mordechai Berger signed an agreement
with Mayor Daniel Vaknin and Likud councilmen.
The agreement states that the municipality will work to
ensure that the chareidi public receives the municipal
services it needs in a fair manner and will relocate schools
that do not fit in with chareidi neighborhoods.
According to the agreement, Rabbi Montag of Degel HaTorah
will be made in charge of the Education Department's chareidi
section and the permanent replacement to the municipal
education committee chairman. In this capacity Rabbi Montag
will be in charge of allocating buildings to educational
institutions and all the areas of activity in the area of
education. Rabbi Weiner will be made in charge of property
taxes and Rabbi Berger will be responsible for chareidi
women's activities.
At a press conference held at his office together with City
Council members on Monday, Mayor Vaknin said that UTJ was
brought into the coalition — with the full knowledge of
all municipality officials — because the city has a
very large chareidi population that is in need of assistance
and day-to- day attention regarding a wide range of unique
needs. "The chareidi representatives are more familiar with
these needs than anybody else and they are the chareidi
community's address for their many needs," he said.
Rabbi Montag said that the full cooperation among all
officials would make it possible to advance many programs for
the welfare of the chareidi sector and the general public as
well. Just as he has worked over the past several years to
provide solutions for all of the educational institutions,
he pledged to continue to work toward this end in order to
provide every chareidi student with suitable facilities.
