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Twenty years after the unification of the authorities, the process for Atlit's return to independence is advancing to the next stage, with the opening of the Geographical Committee.

In 2022, in a unique process in the municipal landscape in Israel, the Hof Carmel Regional Council and the Atlit settlement formulated joint recommendations to promote the return of Atlit to the status of an independent authority.

In 2019, about 20 years after Atlit was merged with Hof Carmel, Atlit's gradual transition back to self-management began. About 3 years later, the Hof Carmel Regional Council plenary approved the joint recommendations jointly formulated by the council and the Atlit Village Committee, regarding the return of the village to the status of an independent authority. The teams held dozens of in-depth discussions, public engagement events, and information evenings, in order to examine the safe and responsible way to carry out the move.

The council and the settlement acted in a way of cooperation and joint examination of the issue of independence for Atlit – this is different from the usual procedure in cases where the separation of a settlement from a regional council is discussed. According to the practice in the municipal arena in Israel, the discussion on the independence of a settlement is held by the Geographical Committee of the Ministry of the Interior. Each of the parties – the authority and the settlement – ​​presents its position, and it is the committee that submits the final recommendation to the Minister of the Interior, as well as decisions on issues where there are gaps between the authority and the settlement. In Hof Carmel, the process was carried out in exactly the opposite way: in the first stage, the council and the settlement committee conducted an examination of the current situation and the existing gaps, after which recommendations for action in the various areas were formulated. In the next stage, which is being launched these days, a joint team of the council and the settlement will examine the recommendations written in 2022 and implement them. The team will include members of the council's management, members of the plenum, and professionals from the council's headquarters, along with Atlit committee members from all factions, who will ensure representation for all Atlit residents.

This week (Monday, January 20, 1), Interior Ministry Director General Ronen Peretz announced the opening of the geographical committee that will discuss the issue of Atlit's return to independence. The joint recommendations that were formulated will be submitted to the committee, which will be headed by Ms. Rachel Turgeman. Turgeman previously served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Halamish Housing, Rehabilitation and Neighborhood Renewal Company in Tel Aviv-Jaffa; as Director of the Urban Renewal Administration in the Ramla Municipality; as Chairman of the "Nes Harim" Neighborhood Administration in Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and more.

Carmel Beach (Photo: Ofer Talio)
Carmel Beach (Photo: Ofer Talio)

The process of examining the independence of the Atlit settlement began following the accelerated development process in the area, which led to a significant increase in the settlement's population: Atlit has become a settlement of 11 residents with an expectation of doubling the number of residents in the coming decade. The new situation required the Regional Council and the Local Committee – which is currently managed by 11 volunteers who do their best to respond to the needs of the residents – to reorganize in order to provide appropriate municipal services and a satisfactory response to the residents. The conclusion was that the right way to manage Atlit and provide optimal municipal services and responses to the residents is to maintain an orderly process that will lead Atlit to independence.

As a reminder, in 2003 the Israeli government led a process of unifying authorities throughout the country. As part of the process, the Hof Carmel Regional Council was united with the neighboring Atlit Local Council. Atlit had about 4,500 residents at the time and was in a poor administrative and infrastructural state. Over the past 20 years, Atlit has been a significant part of the Hof Carmel Regional Council: alongside the development of the various neighborhoods and complexes, schools and kindergartens were built; daycare centers; clinics; a new sports hall; an extension of the community and social services system was established; currently, an additional elementary school and a middle school, a M.A.R. (main business center), as well as Hof Carmel's first high-tech park are being built in Atlit. In addition, a master plan for the settlement was promoted and approved, and a total of about 600 million shekels were invested in it. All of these, along with additional actions that will be taken in the coming years as part of the multi-year plan, will ensure that the process of moving towards independence will be based on strong and well-established infrastructure and systems, which will allow Atlit to operate as a prosperous and developing independent authority.

Asif Isaac, Head of the Carmel Coast Regional Council (Photo: Dodi Ardon)
Asif Isaac, Head of the Carmel Coast Regional Council (Photo: Dodi Ardon)

The head of the Hof Carmel Regional Council, Asif Isaac, said in the discussion:

"About 20 years after being united with Hof Carmel, Atlit is one of the strongest and most sought-after communities in the northern region. In light of this, a move to return to independence is necessary, even if it is not easy. We deal with people's daily lives, and as elected officials we have a duty to act responsibly, to lead and navigate, even if the path is challenging and not always popular. It is a complex process that requires listening, cooperation and compromises to carry it out correctly, and I am glad that we found worthy local leadership in Atlit, who has the best interests of the residents in mind. We learned lessons from other places in the country and decided that we are acting differently, together, because this is the right way to do it for the benefit of the residents."

Deputy Head of the Council, Osher Vaknin (resident of Atlit):

"As a resident of Atlit, the third generation of a long-standing family in the community, I am proud of Atlit's elected officials - in the plenum and the local committee - who chose to deal with the strategic issue of the future of the Atlit community, in order to ensure that Atlit residents always receive the best services they deserve. We will continue to lead the process together, in partnership and with responsibility, for the benefit of the residents of the community and the entire council."

Chairman of the Atlit Local Committee, Itai Shafran:

"The most important time for the future of Atlit in the coming years has arrived, when in light of the significant demographic growth that the settlement is undergoing, there is no escape from the beginning of the transition to an independent settlement. Despite the understandable concerns and the lack of resources, we need to work together with the council to reach maximum agreements in order to build a settlement worthy of its residents with the infrastructure, services and budgets required for this. I am confident that by combining these arms, the return to independence will be carried out in the best possible way and at the right pace for the settlement and the council."

contact: At watsapBy email

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2 תגובות

  1. Poor residents of Atlit, until now they were part of a council that included many settlements, but suddenly they will be alone, so they need to establish a municipality with a mayor and a secretary and property tax departments, gardens, cleaning guides, and more, an inflated mechanism that the residents of Atlit will have to finance, and Atlit is a poor city because it does not have a money-generating industrial zone, and then the new municipality will start inventing all kinds of things that need to be paid for, like who built a pergola or who built a pool or who added something because they need to finance an inflated mechanism of a municipality. There is no way for the residents to get out of being defined as an independent municipality, only shortcomings.

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