Bill advances to enable Deri associate to run for Tiberias mayor

By Carrie Keller-Lynn 7 June 2023, 3:30 pm

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Carrie Keller-Lynn is a former political and legal correspondent for The Times of Israel

General view of the assembly hall of the Knesset in Jerusalem, during a discussion on the state budget, May 22, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The Knesset advances a bill that would enable an associate of Shas chairman Aryeh Deri to run for mayor of the northern city of Tiberias, five months ahead of October’s municipal elections.

The bill clears its preliminary reading, 46 to 41.

Sponsored by Likud MK Amit Halevi, the bill would repeal a required one-term cooling-off period for Interior Ministry-appointed mayoral stand-ins — appointed for mayors who leave before the end of their terms — from running for mayor in the municipality in which they serve.

The cooling period was introduced in 2008, in light of the fact that acting mayors and their convened committee colleagues are not elected by voters, and should not enjoy the structural advantage of an incumbent.

Boaz Yosef has served as Tiberias’s acting mayor since 2020.

National Unity MK Gideon Sa’ar accuses the coalition of legislating in a “blitz” and predicts the bill won’t stand up to judicial review.