The Forum of Deputy Mayors and Council Chairmen, in conjunction with the World Zionist Organization, held an emergency meeting, Thursday, to formulate ways to deal with illegal aliens and the social-justice protests that are expected this summer, as well as empowering Zionism at the local level. Forum chairman Uri Buskila told Arutz Sheva's Hebrew service, "The central governmentcannot abandonthelocal authoritiesto dealalonewith the phenomenon ofinfiltratorsandsocial protest. These are twoissues thatneedtreatmentand discussionat the national level, andlocal governmentdoes nothave the toolsor theability tocopewith these issues."
The deputy mayor of Bat Yam, south of Tel Aviv, continued, "The vacuumcreatedbythe central government is making theaverage citizenavictimof thephenomenon of infiltrators. In fact, the infiltratorsconqueranotherstreetandneighborhoodin Israel, day after day, anda system-wideway of dealing with that is needed,which the local authoritiesdon't have within their power to carry outalone." Calling the infiltrator threat greater than that of Iran's nuclear development program, he said the organization supports Interior Minister Eli Yishai in his demands for more aggressive and effective eradication of the phenomenon.