Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat announced last night that the strike by the municipality and its institutions was being halted. Barkat said that the decision to stop the strike came after he spoke to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who promised that the Jerusalem Mayor would be allowed to present his claims to Sunday's meeting of the cabinet.
The strike has caused widespread disruptions across the city and in particular vast amounts of garbage have mounted up along streets.
The director general of the Ministry of the Interior is due to discuss today with the Ministry of Finance Budget Division head Amir Levy the possibility of appointing a special comptroller to work with the Jerusalem Municipality. Sources at the Ministry of Finance were quick to attribute this possibility as the reason for Barkat's decision to back down and end the strike.
Netanyahu initiated last night's call to Barkat and he hopes that Sunday's cabinet meeting will find a formula for breaking the impasse on the matter of Jerusalem's municipal budget.
Barkat responded positively to Netanyahu's request and agreed to end the strike in coordination with his partners: the Jerusalem municipal management, the Jerusalem Histadrut, Jerusalem Parents Association, and the Community Administrations. Barkat told them he wanted to attend the cabinet meeting showing good intentions in wanting to end the crisis.
Barkat said, "I thank the prime minister for his decision to take responsibility and intervene to bring this issue to the cabinet and find a solution for Jerusalem's future. I also want to thank the Minister for Jerusalem Affairs Ze'ev Elkin for his involvement."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on February 1, 2017
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