A Jerusalem city event endorsing the Shas party and costing NIS 550,000 ($170,000) has been authorized by the Deputy Mayor of the capital, reports Ynet. Eli Simchayof, a member of Shas, made the move to use public funds for the event, in apparent violation of a memorandum forbidding the use of city funds for any event that may be seen as political in nature.
The event has been funded by the municipality for the last three years.
The memorandum from the Jerusalem Municipality’s legal advisor specifically bars the use of public funding for public campaign events, and with municipal elections coming in three months, the recent funding allocation has raised eyebrows.
Although the disputed event was classified as an “Sephardic culture event,” funded by the municipality’s budget for general arts, the event was aimed at Jerusalem’s hareidi community. Usually the municipality would classify an event of this type as a “community event” and fund it through a different budgetary department.
In the brochure advertising the event, the photograph of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the spiritual leader of Shas, appears in 14 places, and that of Simchayof appears no less than 12 times. The brochure also features an approbation, written by Rabbi Yosef, praising Shas and blessing the event.
Members of other parties serving in the Jerusalem municipality are outraged by what they see as blatant propaganda funded by taxpayer shekels. Eli Havilio, the legal advisor who drafted the original memorandum prohibiting such funding, wrote in another memo that "Simchayof's distribution of the brochures continues despite my previous memo, forbidding the utilizing of city funds for campaign purposes."
Havilio’s recent memo explains that the restriction is binding at all times, but that it must be enforced with particular vigilance in the six months leading up to a municipal election.
The event also drew criticism from City councilman Sa'ar Netanel, of the far-left Meretz party, who said that "it is inconceivable that the public has to fund a political event endorsing Shas. This is outright corruption."
In response to reporters who contacted Simchayof's office to inquire if the event will still take place despite the objections to it, the answer was that the event "will take place as scheduled, G-d willing."
The statement, issued on behalf of Deputy Mayor Simchayof, reads as follows : "The Jerusalem Municipality, through it arts department's eastern [Sephardi] culture events department, will be holding its third annual penmen ceremony, in which the city – subject to the decision of an independent committee – awards several prize awards. The event is apolitical. It contains no political speeches or appearances, making the concern of using it as an election campaign irrelevant. We hope this event will continue to take place, G-d willing, in the years to come, regardless of any municipal elections."