The Interior Ministry's Primary Planning Subcommittee has approved the first route of Tel Aviv's light-rail system. The 22-kilometer line will run from Bat Yam to the Petach Tikva Bus Station via the Geha Junction, and estimated travel time from one end to the other is 43 minutes. Some 660 objections were filed regarding the western end of the route, mainly from residents and businesses along Jerusalem Blvd. in Jaffa, while 46 objections were submitted about the remainder of the route. Two urban experts appointed to analyze the objections recommended that the route be split in Jaffa to run alongside both sides of Jerusalem Blvd., and that it run underground in Bnei Brak. The recommendations have been accepted, though a public hearing will be held regarding the first one. One short section of the rail line is still in dispute. The preparation and approval of the entire plan took only a year and a half - a relatively short time for complex public projects of this nature.



Interior Minister Avraham Poraz announced that municipal elections in Jerusalem, Haifa, and Or Akiva will be held on the third day of Sivan, 5763 (June 2). The mayors of all three cities - Ehud Olmert, Amram Mitzna, and Yaakov Edri, respectively - ceased their terms in office when they became Knesset Members last month. Ex-Interior Minister Eli Yeshai had previously set the elections for next October. National funding for the parties fielding candidates will be cut by 25%, in light of the difficult economic situation. Seventeen-year-olds will be able to vote in the elections.