Interior Minister Aryeh Deri (Shas) instructed the ministry’s Director General, Mordechai Cohen, on Tuesday to meet with senior officials from the Finance Ministry and Jerusalem municipality to put an end to an ongoing funding crisis between the government and City of Jerusalem that has set off a strike in the capital that is making life unbearable for residents.
Deri has demanded the parties resolve the dispute over transfer of funds from the Finance Ministry to the city administration; a dispute city officials say is responsible for an escalating strike that has shut down garbage collection across the capital. On Tuesday the scope of the strike expanded, leading to the closure of public kindergartens.
Sources close to the Interior Minister say he expects the meeting between Cohen and officials representing the Finance Ministry and City of Jerusalem to produce concrete recommendations he will be able to implement immediately.
“This isn’t just a hearing; this is a professional deliberation intended to put together recommendations for Interior Minister Deri,” the sources said.