Interior Minister awards Good Government Prize to towns and regional councils; Judea/Samaria receives a disproportionately large number.
Despite the ongoing freeze on Jewish construction in Judea and Samaria, 11 towns and local councils there received the prize, out of a total of 84 prize-winners in the entire country. Judea/Samaria thus received 13% of the prizes, while its number of cities, regional councils and towns is only 9% of Israel's total.
- Out of 77 cities in Israel, four of them – Modiin Illit, Beitar Illit, Maaleh Adumim, and Ariel – are in Yesha. Ariel was the only one of the four to receive the Interior Ministry prize.
- Out of Israel's 53 regional councils (akin to counties in the United States), six are in Judea and Samaria. They include prize-winners Gush Etzion, Binyamin, Shomron, and Har Hevron.
- There are also 123 local town councils in Israel. One of them is Katzrin, in the Golan, and 13 of them are in Yesha, including prize-winners Beit El, Efrat, Har Adar and Oranit.
Other winners include Or Yehuda, for the first time; Zevulun Regional Council, for the 13th time running; Nazareth Illit; and Rosh HaAyin.
The prize was awarded at a special ceremony on Wednesday by Interior Minister Eli Yishai and Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz. The prize is usually an annual one, but 2008 was skipped and it was last awarded for 2007. The criteria are budget-balancing, or at least preventing the deficit from climbing, as well as organizational management, city services, enforcement of construction and zoning laws, and business licensing. Some 25 million shekels are divided among the prize-winners.
Beit El: It Helps Us Attain Goals
“I am happy at the opportunity to grant a prize to well-run authorities,” Minister Yishai said, “and I am sure that additional towns and cities will soon display the same efficiency and responsibility and will win the prize next year.”
Beit El’s Mayor Moshe Rosenbaum explained that beyond the extra budget granted to the winning towns, “its main value is in encouraging the town to work in an organized manner according to a plan, which guarantees that goals will be met.”
“The very fact that even towns that did not win sent representatives to the prize-awarding ceremony,” Rosenbaum said, “shows that they recognize the importance of operating efficiently.”
Efrat: Challenging Times
Efrat Mayor Oded Revivi said, “The proof that it is quite a challenge to run a city under the present financial circumstances is the fact that only a third of Israel’s towns and cities won the prize… This is the 9th time that Efrat has won, and this is due to our treasurer and CEO, Sharon Horowitz.”
Revivi also noted the lack of income to towns in Judea and Samaria due to the building freeze, in that construction fees are not collected.