Sources inform "Globes" that newly appointed Minister of the Interior Eli Yishai will not oppose the decision by his predecessor Meir Shetreet, who on his last day in office adopted a recommendation to merge Ramle and Lod.
However, Shetreet stopped short of signing the unification order because he did not want to complete such a sensitive change during the government changeover period. He made it clear that the incoming minister should make the final decision on the matter.
Sources close to Yishai told "Globes" that during the negotiations to form the new government coalition the topic of merging the municipalities was discussed and the Shas leader agreed with the measure. One of Yishai's aides said, "The matter was presented to us and we agreed with it. The minister does not oppose it on the national level, he agrees that there is a need to go someway towards merging municipalities. That is one of the guidelines on which the new government is based. On the local level he has not been fully updated on all the details."
The plan to merge Ramle and Lod is one of a list of 27 such mergers, including local authorities and regional authorities as well as municipalities, presented by Shetreet in January 2008. Shetreet's proposal was submitted last year to the Efrati Committee on Local Authority Mergers.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 31, 2009
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