Minister of the Interior Meir Sheetrit may not redraw municipal borders or change jurisdictions and distribution of revenues of local authorities until after the Knesset elections in February, ruled High Court of Justice after a hearing on a petition filed by five regional authorities and the Center of Regional Authorities in Israel. The five regional authorities are Modi'in, Hof Hacarmel, Yoav, Sapir, and Brenner.
The petitioners objected to Sheetrit's plan to set up 27 investigative committees that would submit recommendations on changing municipal borders and transferring jurisdiction of open spaces from regional authorities to local authorities and municipalities. The petitioners said that the committees would submit their recommendations during the Knesset and local election campaigns.
In September, the High Court of Justice ruled that the committees could not submit any recommendations before the November local authorities elections. Most of the committees have not yet completed their work, and some have only just begun. The petitioners then asked the court to order a postponement in the submission of the committees' recommendations until after the Knesset elections so that the recommendations could not affect the elections.
The High Court of Justice ruled that the committees' work and recommendations should not be delayed, but forbid Sheetrit from taking any decision on the recommendations until after the elections. The court said, "In view of the restraint required by the executive branch during an election period, we instruct that the minister of the interior not to take any decision that would result in long-term results."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 3, 2008
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