Tiveria Mayor Ron Kobi on Thursday petitioned the High Court of Justice against Interior Minister Aryeh Deri in an effort to prevent being ousted from office in response to his failure to succeed in passing a municipal budget since being elected to office.

The mayor has filed with the High Court against the Interior Ministry and Deri in the past towards preventing implementation of the process to oust him from office due to his failure as a mayor.

Director-General of the Interior Ministry, Mordechai Cohen, informed members of the Tiveria City Council as well as the mayor of the village of Yarcha, that the process to oust them from office for failing to pass a budget is underway. This is in accordance with Paragraph 206 of the Municipal Code, due to the failure of the mayors to pass a budget by the deadline, September 30, 2019.

Kobi has been summoned to a pre-dismissal hearing with the Interior Ministry to plead his case, a hearing scheduled to take place on October 23rd.

On Thursday morning, Kobi filed with the High Court against the Union of Local Authorities and the Ministry of the Interior, as he maintains Deri is acting against him specifically, seeking an injunction to permit him not to attend the hearing until the court rules on his claim that Deri’s actions are motivated by a conflict of interests.

Kobi was elected on a vehemently anti-chareidi election campaign. After taking office, the chareidi and religious parties remained in opposition and they have repeatedly toppled efforts to pass a municipal budget, leading to this situation. Kobi continues to maintain that he is being targeted by Deri as a result.

In an earlier petition to the court, Kobi asked that the court intervene and dismiss the chareidi members of the council to permit the passage of a budget. However, the court declined the offer, explaining the city council is to remain in place, leaving him with an inability to pass his budget, now having to face a pre-dismissal hearing with Ministry of the Interior officials.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)