A discussion on the Lev Hesh association in the Haifa City Council - watch the video broadcast | The motion to cancel the legal proceedings against Lev Hesh passed with a majority of votes but...

The proposal to cancel the legal proceedings against Lev Hesh was accepted by the city council with a majority of votes, but the legal adviser and the mayor declared that the decision was of no importance, because it was illegal. Watch the heated debate.

Abihu Han:

I don't understand the mayor's obsession with closing this association. Come there on Friday and see the needy who come there to receive food, blankets and clothing. Does the administration of this city have no compassion for these people? How do you sleep at night, when these residents go to bed hungry? Where is your responsibility as mayor? Where did Jacob Feingold go who wanted to help this association? Where is Tami Barak who represents women's organizations? Why is she silent? And Zvika Barbie, who centers welfare - why isn't your voice heard? And what about Sigal Tzioni - is this the education you give to the children of the city? Where is Rabbi Ozan, who talks about the transparent people? Where did he go?

I ask Klish if you want to house this association in a place where even rats don't want to be there? My friends and I saw these people. They are not transparent, they are super-truths.
I walk around this city and see an abandoned and dirty city.

That's why I say and call to the members of the council:
There is no coalition and opposition here. There are hungry people here.
We will not let you close this association. We will stand by her.

Sofi Nakash:

There is a dental clinic for the needy. There is a product recycling center for those in need. There is a place for Holocaust survivors, where they also receive food. I saw a woman with a baby in her arms when she came to get food.
In Haifa there are many buildings of the Ministry of Education that are used for other purposes.
Lev Hash is not a warehouse, but a lifeline for many residents. It seems that here in the room, the Sheva does not understand hunger.

Hedva Almog:

When I connected to the municipality's press conference on Lev Hash, I was kicked out of the Zoom discussion. I wanted to hear the CEO. Where is the transparency and where are you?
The location of such an association should be accessible, both to residents by public transportation and to trucks unloading goods. The municipality of Haifa offered several places, but none of the places meet the criteria worthy of this association.

If you want the association to move, sit down with the association's managers and find a solution. Instead, since you have no courage, you go to court and demand an eviction.

I demand to know who you are dedicating the building to.

Yossi Shalom:

It saddens me that we are required to hold such a discussion, which is not related to the coalition or the opposition. For 10 years I have been coming to volunteer intermittently at this association and I wonder why the mayor did not bother to come to this association, which is the largest in the city.
I am shocked by the mayor's tendency to hurt the weak, who have no resilience. I was there with the Knesset members of Yesh Atid and today they are shocked by the conduct of the municipality.
You offered the association that operates on 750 meters, an alternative area of ​​14 meters.
Einat, I'm asking you if you have a productive idea to solve the problem. I am ready to go with you to check and look for solutions. I urge you not to turn to lawyers, but to look for solutions together.

Eli Ben-Dain (Likud)

This is the kind of issue why I became a city council member. There really isn't a complete sentence here, as the people of the municipality are trying to present here. I mean, it's not that this structure prevents the education of the city's children. We have reached the point where we can bring about a real solution. We are all here on one hand in this matter.

Rabbi Dovi Chion

There is an association here that calls the elderly to make sure they are not dead. It is accessible to the residents of the area, many of whom are in need. It's not just that this association is there.
It is unthinkable that facilities are only for the ultra-Orthodox and for that they spoil. Haifa should be pluralistic. The mayor promised equality and I was disappointed when the mayor only cares about the ultra-Orthodox.
I urge everyone here today to drop this lawsuit and find other solutions.

Yoav Ramati

This is an association that does charity and I am interested in touring the place with his father. Kindness cannot come at the expense of proper administration. I received several questions regarding the procedures concerning that association. I ask the CEO whether and when the building was allocated.
In this regard, Einat Kalish promised that the professional team will address this later.

Sigal Tsioni

There are other associations in the city and not all of them have been allocated, for example the association "Growths from Life". Children should receive a 100% solution in the entire city of Haifa. Aviho presents the place as ideal for unloading and loading, but this is not true.

Gerry Koren (Haifa Beitno)

This association is in consensus. It won't close, period

Nachshon Tzuk

The municipality neither opens nor closes associations. This is the role of the registrar of associations. What unites the people of Mertz and the Likud in the city council is terrible racism against the ultra-Orthodox. Lev Hash Association is not of interest to you.

Michy Alper

There is no need to explain how important this association is. This is a building for which the Ministry of Education has asked the municipality to vacate it. We intend to clear more buildings in areas of demand and return them to their accidental purpose.
Regarding ultra-orthodox education: every child in the State of Israel deserves a school, with a table, a chair and a blackboard - a standard classroom.
Today there are 530 children of kindergarten age in Hadar Carmel, most of whom are in residential apartments. If you saw it, you wouldn't let it go on. Beit Yaakov School has 960 female students who study in impossible conditions. All residents of Haifa. You will pass Mossad Mossad in the Hadar neighborhood and you will see the council. If you do then be ashamed that we are having this discussion. Babar did not see these children as having equal rights, today they are seen as equal.
All the people sitting here know that a school building should be used as a school.

Ehad Segev - CEO of Haifa Municipality:

When I took office, I met with the directors of the association, I met with the members of the board and made it clear to them that this building must be transferred to its original purpose as an educational building. The property department offered the association appropriate, large and logistically suitable buildings for the operation of the association. The municipal ordinance has clear rules for the allocation of buildings. I tried to solve everything in a civilized, matter-of-fact and professional way, but the members of the association probably feel that they have unlimited backup and are not ready for a solution.
I proposed places that would allow to operate in several buildings, for example in a building whose purpose would be a dental clinic. The concept of one place that will contain all the association's activities is not found in the region.
In my opinion, it is not possible for one association to stop the trend of treating students, according to the needs of the education department.
Regarding the Holocaust survivors and the new immigrants: the municipal association for the absorption of Alia can take care of everyone in an orderly and even better way.
You are invited to review the financial reports of Lev Hash and see that it has financial strength. It is not going to close.
Haifa Municipality distributes hundreds of thousands of food vouchers to the needy.
Regarding the allocation of the building to the association, there were serious conflicts of interest. This is a municipal employee. The manager of the property department in the municipality received assignments for the association of which he is a board member. If people didn't feel they were above the law, we would have closed the matter (of the alternative structure) a long time ago.
I appeal to the members of the city council and urge you to contact me and get information before you make presentations and go on tours.

Attorney Yamit Klein (legal advisor to Haifa Municipality)

The municipality of Haifa has long demanded that the association regulate its holding of the property and was met with a refusal. This is not the only association for which this problem exists. There are other associations that are in properties whose allocation has not been regulated. In 2010, the Allocations Committee approved the allocation of the property, but since then the association has not regularized or completed the allocation procedure. The association also did not pay the mandatory payments. We have never granted an exemption from the payment of property tax.

Regarding the claim:
The regulations of the law oblige us to conduct negotiations and this is what we will do. The authority will not place itself as a poor person at the door, when the association can also operate in other places that have been offered to them.

Regarding the settlement proposal at the center of this discussion:
We cannot be required to delete the claim. I cannot withdraw from the lawsuit, especially after the facts I detailed there.

Einat Kalish - Rotem:

I manage this city according to the municipal ordinance. You cannot pass an offer to an order that is not valid. This proposal has no future and therefore we will vote against it.
What unites you is years of racism against the ultra-orthodox. We will vote on a proposal for an order against racism.
No matter what you vote, it is not interesting at all, because the council has no authority to demand from us to do something that is illegal. We will continue to act according to the law.

The results of the city council vote:
12 for, 8 against, 1 abstained