Interior and Environmental Protection Committee 4/16/2024/Knesset channel
A particularly disconnected statement was heard last night from the direction of the Minister of the Interior Moshe Arbel during the discussion on raising the retirement conditions of heads of authorities. Last night, the Interior Committee discussed the request of Interior Minister Moshe Arbel, and the Chairman of the Local Government in Israel, Haim Bibbs, regarding the conditions for the retirement of heads of authorities and the need to cancel the age limit of 70 for the purpose of paying an adjustment grant to the head of an authority who retired from his position and was not elected for another term. The committee also discussed increasing the quota of adjustment months The maximum from 3 to 6 months of adjustment depending on the length of the term.
The initiator of the discussion, Minister of the Interior, said that "we need to look populism in the eye and say 'we don't count you out.' The last thing the State of Israel needs is for mayors to have to plan what will happen to them the day after they lose the elections."
Arbel said that "We see the heads of the authorities as elected officials whose job it is to serve the public. We saw them in Corona, in the Guardian of the Walls and during the Iron Swords War, how they do their work in a serious way, and above and beyond. If we want serious people to enter the local arena, we need to take care of their conditions."
He claimed that the salary of Knesset members, which is NIS 47,583 compared to a minimum salary of NIS 5,880 per month and an average salary in the economy of NIS 12,860 in 2023, is "minor": "It is not popular, and I am still standing here and clearly saying - the salary of elected officials In the State of Israel it is meager, the salary of Knesset members is meager, the salary of heads of authorities is meager."
Arbel added that "a judge who serves in peace for the same number of years as the chairman of the Finance Committee of the Knesset for 30 years. His salary is 2.5 times Gafni's salary and the judge is allowed to work an extra job. If you're a Knesset member you can't, if you're a mayor you can't, if you're a minister you can't. And we want the best in this arena and we're not counting you out. We are here for the future generation of the public that will serve the public. It's not rewarding. And you need to reward and know that elected officials come and can be calm about bringing food to the children, it's an issue they don't need to bother with.
" Functioning as the head of an authority: "Strengthening the purity of morals is the essence of the issue. I think the last thing we need to happen in the State of Israel is for an elected official to think about what will happen to him the day after he loses the election."
Attorney Gilad Keren, legal advisor to the Interior Committee, pointed out the possibility that the retroactive application of the comparison of conditions would be considered a personal change. ".
Minister Arbel replied and said that the court defined personalization if it is known who will receive the benefit following the decision. In the current situation, Minister Arbel said, we only know about some of the mayors and this weakens the issue of personalization. He also said that this is an omission that the Ministry of the Interior did not address in time to the Interior Committee, but in his opinion the mayors who retired should not be punished for this.
Benny Kashriel who served as mayor of Ma'ale Adumim said: "The work draws you in such a way that it is impossible to think about the future and what will happen after your service. I knew I was going to retire and
if
I had left all the city's work and started looking for another job because I have no adjustment, the city could have deteriorated."