Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai today (Wednesday) opened his remarks at Globes’ Israel Business Conference with a call to go vote, and responded to the praise of the CEO of Bank Hapoalim for the accelerated construction: “Whoever thinks that the free market is capable of organizing a roof for the State of Israel, does not understand what Happening in the State of Israel. A country where 93% of its land is in the hands of the state, and the government is trying to profit from the land, when the planning institutions are depleted because they are not good enough and do all kinds of ‘and extras’ – there will be too little planning. There will not be enough apartments. This is the responsibility of the government, the state, to make sure that every citizen has a roof over his head.”
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Huldai also said that “as the mayor of the host city, it is customary to open by praising the host hostel. Ladies and gentlemen, it cannot be that in a conference that takes place five days before elections, and the subtitle is ‘we must talk about the economy’, there is not a single session that deals with education. There is no economy without education, And certainly not a prosperous economy.”
According to Huldai, “A prosperous economy consists of a correct order of priorities. It consists of long-term planning, along with the ability to respond to changes. It consists of collaborations. This is not a complicated formula, but the State of Israel – government after government – does not try and fails to uphold this formula. Why? Because its governments are busy with political survival and in any case understand that their decisions are not carried out in the end.”
According to him, “The economy is a tool, not a goal. And it does not prosper if society does not prosper. Israeli society, ladies and gentlemen, is faltering and crumbling. Look at the special education system. Until this school year, the school day ended at a quarter to five in the afternoon. This year, due to an acute shortage of manpower, the government decided that the school day would end at quarter past three. I put aside the meanings that this move has and focus only on the economic meaning – the parents have to find a way to finance solutions for the early end of the school day, or quit their jobs. The meaning of their mental and physical wear and tear is only getting stronger.”
According to Huldai, “Is this happening because the blanket is too short, because the State of Israel has no money? No. The State of Israel has money, but its government, its governments over the years, do not have the right order of priorities.
“A correct order of priorities would put education – and within it special education – at the top. A government with a correct order of priorities would make education a national priority profession and the country’s teachers, people who can live with dignity and be proud not only of their profession, but also of the way they They are rewarded for it. It was possible already today, in the current state of emergency, to make the profession of education a preferred job. How is getting gas at a gas station a preferred job, and a teacher is not?”
“We close our eyes”
In Huldai’s view, “it is enough to look at all the studies and forecasts that clearly indicate the direction we are going as a society, state and economy. The Titanic is heading there and we are closing our eyes.”
According to Huldai: Take one of the most common complaints of Israelis and Tel Avivians lately – how difficult it is to move in Tel Aviv-Jaffa. This is true. It is difficult to move around, because work is being done on three light rail lines at the same time. And it harms the quality of life of its residents, of those who enter it, and especially the economy.”
Huldai points the finger of blame at the political system. According to him, “The decision on the Red Line was made and signed already in 2000. In 2008, the tender for the Red Line was already won! But then what happened? Minister Israel Katz happened, and nationalized the project. And that’s how we got here 22 years later, that the three lines are being dug at the same time and there is still no train!
Today, we are in an even worse replay, about the metro. Instead of transferring powers to the executing company, to prepare the tenders now, to recruit the required personnel for the project long ago and to create optimal planning – we are still basing ourselves on delaying the wording of the law.
“The State of Israel has money, but its governments refuse to plan for the long term and stick to the same decisions. There is no prosperous economy, without quality infrastructure for all citizens. The important thing is what happens to all citizens, not just to an elite group.”
Huldai added and says that “the problem is not the mere existence of state mechanisms and the central government, whatever they are. The problem is the management from crisis to crisis. The problem is politicians who are busy preserving their seats instead of working for the citizens. I have been mayor for 24 years. I worked with 15 – I repeat, 15 – Interior Ministers. How can something like this be done? At least three ministries are required for everything.”
According to him, there is no correct order of priorities, and there is no long-term planning. And what about collaborations? The State of Israel has money, but it has difficulty maintaining inter-ministerial cooperation, which would be significant enough to solve acute problems. Do you know who knows how to have such collaborations? the local authorities. Why? Because they have rules. Because they are political stability.”
Huldai is proud of the initiatives of the local authorities: “Look at the Shepadan, which, without much fuss, built here in recent years a whole ‘subway’ of sewer lines that provide services to 22 municipalities and this with future planning until 2040! Consider the Union of Dan Cities for Sanitation, which recently built one of the most advanced recycling facilities in the world that provides services to 32 municipalities; Anyone who sees this joint metropolitan activity understands that the public will only benefit from an extensive process of granting authority and independence to the local government, and unfortunately this is not happening. The problems that the state does not know how to solve, we – the heads of the local authorities – know how to solve. We just need them to give us the permission and authority.”
Powers to local authorities
The solution, in his eyes, is broader autonomy for local authorities: “For local government to be effective and applicable, and for it to be a national and local growth engine, as in European countries, we need the authority to enact municipal laws without governmental intervention, and the authority to enforce these laws effectively. We need the authority to set local taxes independently and collect them effectively. In order to develop modern and necessary life infrastructures for the 21st century, and for the millions of people who will be added to the State of Israel in the coming decades, we need organizational and executive powers, such as the authority to establish city associations for transportation, as is customary in all countries The world, except for us in Israel; maybe what is good in Europe and the Far East and America is also suitable for us. Also the authority to operate the municipal companies for the purposes of entrepreneurship, construction and housing. There is no prosperous economy without strong local authorities.”
The economy, in Huldai’s view, “depends on a set of priorities, which puts at the top the only resource that the State of Israel has – its people – and in which it is necessary to invest from the age of zero. It depends on long-term planning, which knows how to build physical infrastructures such as transportation, housing, health, employment, education and culture. The process in all services It is the deterioration and the introduction of the private market and the suppression of the efficient and great public system that was built in the past.
Huldai concluded with a message to the political system ahead of the elections: “I wish for sustainable democratic political stability. And I wish that the next governments will be able to use us, the local government, to ensure and maintain a good and decent life for all the citizens of the State of Israel. Go vote!”
*** The conference is in cooperation with Bank Hapoalim, sponsored by Phoenix, Amdocs, BDO, HOT, Geely, Shufersal, El Al, Tnuva, Profimax, the Medical Organization, MyDesk, Contigo, Cisco and with the participation of Mekorot, the Innovation Authority, Mobileye, Start Up Nation central, Ashdod port and electricity company