There are two sides to the story, but from the perspective of Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat and some of his senior staff, the reason Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon has not met with the mayor since the last Knesset elections is that the mayor backed Likud, and not Kahlon’s Kulanu party. In truth, it is somewhat bizarre that the mayor of the nation’s capital cannot get an appointment to meet with Kahlon while other mayors can.

When asked about the issue, Kahlon said “I don’t meet with seven million people, so it will be one more. Barkat explains this response in not sufficient as the city is short 250 million shekels towards balancing the annual budget. He insists the lack of funding has left the city without means to pay employees and the situation is worsening daily.

Jerusalem hired an outside company to probe the matter, and according to the mayor, it has been determined Jerusalemites are funded far less than other cities, receiving about 30% less per resident than residents of Tel Aviv. Barkat insists the discrimination must stop. He added that unfortunately, due to the lack of funds, he must dismiss 2,150 city workers, which prompted the general strike in the city that began on Sunday morning, 20 Teves.

On rare occasions when he commented, Kahlon insists the budget is just fine and the mayor is fiscally irresponsible. Others blame the matter on the lack of arnona and other taxes collected due to the many many residents receiving assistance from various agencies because of the large number of students and avreichim.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)