The situation in the city is becoming more worrisome, as within a week, the number of residents who became sick with coronavirus jumped from 662 to 1,416.
By PEGGY CIDORJerusalem city hall in Safra Square(photo credit: DANIEL BARÁNEK/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS)
Two City Council members from two different lists tested positive for the coronavirus earlier this week. As a result, members of their staff and others who have been in recent contact, have been told to enter quarantine, as have the councilmen. The two are Deputy Mayor Zvika Cohen (Shas) and City Council member Michael Albershtam (Agudat Israel).Sources inside Shas revealed that at a special meeting of the faction on Thursday of last week to mark the end of internal struggles between members of the list, Cohen was the only one who didn’t wear a mask. A few days later, he tested positive and became sick from the virus.For now, it is not clear who else may have been exposed to Cohen and Albershtam, while epidemiological tracking is underway to find out. A spokeswoman for Mayor Moshe Lion announced that there was no evidence that either of the two had been in close contact with the mayor.The situation in the city is becoming more worrisome, as within a week, the number of residents who became sick with coronavirus jumped from 662 to 1,416, with a 7% rate of tests showing positive. That’s considered very high, albeit lower than Bnei Brak or Beitar Illit.Light Rail work on track The Green Line of the Jerusalem Light Rail is moving to the next phase, with intensive road work this week in the Ramat Eshkol and Ma’alot Dafna neighborhoods. The work, which will disrupt traffic, will largely take place between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., however, the municipality said some night work might be scheduled, preceded by special announcement by the municipality. The Green Line will connect the French Hill neighborhood to Gilo, and will run through the Givat Ram campus of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, running for 20 kilometers with 47 stops.Hold your horsesGovernment offices refusing to move in to Jerusalem in defiance of the law requiring all such agencies to work from the capital is not a new issue. Recently, Mayor Lion formed a special unit inside the municipality to deal with the situation, with City Council member Yossi Havilio designated to head the unit. Last week, Havilio obtained a first success in this struggle, following a request from the Environmental Protection Ministry to move some of its units to the center of the country.It is worthy to note that the ministry moved to the city only a few years ago, after repeated requests to do so, and is now trying again to leave Jerusalem. The reason cited was traffic causing lost time for some of the ministry’s activities that take place across the country. Havilio succeeded to convince the CEO of the Prime Minister’s Office not to allow the move.Recent data from the Jerusalem Institute of Policy Research show that despite the law that required all these units to move to Jerusalem by 2015, almost nothing has changed on the ground. The loss to the city’s economy as a result is estimated at some NIS 85 million per year, on top of the loss of some 3,000 employees who are not moving to live in Jerusalem.
New dawnMost of us may not be aware of it, but a long and bitter conflict between the Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund and the Jewish Agency, which has blocked some of the municipality’s major development projects, has come to an end. This conflict was about the ownership – and hence the plans to promote large projects – on the plot where the Jerusalem International Convention Center stands today, at the entrance to the city. According to the decision of the parties, the Jewish Agency will sell KKL its share of that plot, which, as a result, will make KKL a major partner of the municipality – and enable the prestigious project of the new entrance to the city – with its towers, business quarter and hotels – to finally get started.Elections, eventuallyThe District Court ruled last week that elections for the 30 local councils of the city must take place within the next nine months. Elections for these local councils, which represent as close as possible the will of the residents across various neighborhoods of the city, have become a kind of urban saga, as they have been postponed – or simply not taken place at all – for many years.In fact, the last elections for 10 of the councils took place 10 years ago, while others have not held an election in 15 years, and some have never held an election, with their boards appointed by the municipality. The decision by Justice Oded Shacham came after five activists, led by former president of the local Meretz list, Yosef “Pepe” Alalu, requested action on that matter. One of the major problems related to the elections in local councils is the eligibility of candidates.The rules are not clear, and as a result, people with vested personal interests may come virtually out of nowhere and be elected if they manage to collect enough votes, while residents who have been active and involved in the work of the councils for years remain outside.Since neither the municipality nor the councils have found a way to change the associations’ by-laws, one “solution” has been to avoid elections for as long as possible. Now that the court has issued a clear decision, the municipality, activists and boards of the local councils have about nine months to get this baby ready.History and culinaryUnder the restrictions of the coronavirus, many local tourist venues are proposing new options to keep operating. One such place is the Jerusalem House of Quality, a charming place located between the First Station and the Cinematheque. JHQ is a nonprofit association where artists work and create in friendly conditions and then sell their artworks, jewelery, Judaica and more. The place has one of the most beautiful patios in the city, and it now offers a series of guided tours of the area each Friday morning, with a tasty breakfast, all under the Health Ministry’s guidelines. Registration can be made at Jss@art-jerusalem.co.il or by phone at 054-746-2384.
