Ra’anana City Council member Yoram Silverman has called on Mayor Haim Broide and fellow council members to add an urgent item to Wednesday’s meeting agenda: the ongoing delay in transferring funds to the Religious Council and the continued lack of appointed leadership.
According to Silverman, the municipality has failed to pass along its legally mandated share of the Religious Council’s budget, as required under the Jewish Religious Services Law. He argues that these funds must be provided on a regular basis to ensure the council can function properly and deliver essential religious services to residents. The prolonged delay, he says, is already disrupting routine operations.
Silverman also pointed out that the Religious Council has been without a chairperson or appointed commissioner for over a year. This leadership vacuum, he claims, is undermining day-to-day management and hindering effective decision-making. With national elections approaching, he warned that appointing a new commissioner may become even more difficult, potentially extending the current uncertainty.
He noted that the consequences are already being felt across key services, including marriage registration, kashrut supervision, and mikveh operations, as well as in delays to employee salaries. The combination of missing funds and absent leadership, he stressed, is causing significant damage both to the council’s functioning and to the services residents rely on.
In his formal proposal, Silverman is urging the city to immediately transfer the required funds in full compliance with the law, ensure transparency with council members, and base decisions solely on professional considerations. He also called for swift action to reach consensus on a mutually agreed candidate to serve as commissioner of the Religious Council.