Life at Safra Square, Jerusalem City Hall is not without friction between Mayor Nir Barkat and the Yahadut Hatorah party on the best of days and during recent months, it has been more or less head-to-head on many issues. As the mayor seeks to implement a more secular/liberal policy in the city, the chareidi party has stepped up its efforts to preserve Shmiras Shabbos in the city amid the reality that more and more stores are operating in the city’s downtown area on the holy day. This has led to much strife but the chareidim insist they will continue their tenacious battle towards safeguarding Kedushas Shabbos in the city.

The latest battle however is not as lofty as Shabbos, but about the lack of Yahadut Hatorah representation on City Hall committees. According to a Kikar Shabbos report, the chareidi party has sent letters to City Hall officials demanding representation on city committee out of entitlement and not out of the goodness of their hearts.

Currently, there are four Yahadut Hatorah members on the city’s Finance Committee among a total of 18 committee members. Yahadut Hatorah is demanding another representative, pointing out the law entitles them to an additional representative on the committee in line with the party’s size. Two options presented by the party include converting the city council to a 31-member Finance Committee and alternatively, to cut the number of councilmen on the committee from 18 to 14 or 15. Either of these would grant Yahadut Hatorah fair representation commensurate with the party’s size.

Next on Yahadut Hatorah’s list is the Subsidies & Allocations Advisory Committee, which is comprised of 17 councilmen including four chareidim. Yahadut Hatorah is demanding at least one additional seat as well as one seat on the Conservation Committee. At present, Yahadut Hatorah’s requests have been met with opposition from Barkat.

Other demands include the Committee Overseeing Local Minhelets (Local Community Councils) which includes Kiryat Yovel of course, the site of ongoing conflict between chareidim and secularists. That committee has 22 members including 10 councilmen, of which there are only two from Yahadut Hatorah.

Yahadut Hatorah insists it will not accept comprise for these appointments are its legal entitlement and not a chessed from City Hall.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)