Weekly Update 68

January 2, 2026

Hello everyone.

Thank you to everyone who has already referred new subscribers to the newsletter—welcome to the new subscribers! I’m asking again for your help in increasing transparency and spreading the word about the newsletter—please invite more people.

This newsletter will focus on a summary of 2025 regarding the work of the Council Plenary and the main activities I’ve undertaken as a council member of the “Lema’an HaMoshava” faction—activities that are solely for the public good. Therefore, there is no summary.

In 2025, I published and sent you 48 newsletters. Each newsletter promotes and strengthens the public’s right to know, transparency, and good governance.

A quick reminder for those who may have forgotten: There are 15 council members: 10 belong to the coalition, and 5 belong to the opposition.

The 10 coalition members: 3 in the faction of the council chair—Eli Abutbul, Dganit Azoulay, and Roni

Kenigstein.

2 from the Zichron Shebalev faction: Tzila Reshef, full-time deputy mayor, and Tzachi Baruch.

2 from the ultra-Orthodox faction: Aryeh Polak, Dudu Baranes.

1 Meir Vanunu, Deputy Mayor (60% salary).

1 Odelia Kedmi

1 Ilan Amrani, who left our faction and joined the coalition.

5 opposition members: 3 from the New Contract faction—Natanel Goldberg, Dudi Rosenzwig, and Yigal Hakar

2 members of the Lema’an HaMoshava faction—Avigail Dolev and myself.

First Topic: Council Meeting Activities

In 2025, 18 council meetings were held: 12 regular meetings

5 special sessions

1 budget meeting

I attended 16 out of 18 meetings.

Only during regular sessions can motions and questions be submitted. Motions and questions are key tools for elected officials to bring issues important to the public up for discussion. Here is a breakdown of what was submitted during the 12 regular sessions:

Type of Activity	Number	My Activity	Explanatory note
Total inquiries submitted	10	10	All inquiries submitted to the Council in 2025 were submitted by
Motions submitted	10	6 + 1 (Total 7) 6 independent + 1 joint motion by the factions “Lema’an HaMoshava” and “New Contract”

As can be seen in the table, when it comes to motions and inquiries, I am the most active member of the opposition. All motions were rejected because the coalition holds an overwhelming majority. But what matters is that a public debate took place, which the public can watch or read in the minutes.

The questions I submitted exposed improper conduct and sometimes even led to rectifying the situation. I will cite one example: Nuri’s kiosk in Gan Tiul, which underwent renovation and will soon open as a café. It is also designated as a building for preservation.

Following my inquiry asking whether a permit was required for the building, the council chairman gave an incorrect answer during the meeting, stating that no permit was required. Even though he already knew that, following this inquiry which had reached him months earlier, the council had already approached the regional committee to issue a permit through an expedited procedure. I know this because I also contacted the Regional Committee to check if a permit existed. In summary, it was only as a result of my efforts—including contacting the Regional Committee—that the building’s status was resolved, which will allow for its use and enable the issuance of a business license. Thus, residents will be able to enjoy a licensed café.

Second Topic: What I Focused On in 2025 and Will Continue to Focus On in 2026

• Good governance and compliance with the law – Throughout 2025, I acted consistently and without compromise. I sent dozens of letters and numerous inquiries to the council administration, council managers, the Regional Planning and Construction Committee, the Council for the Preservation of Sites, the Ministry of the Interior, the State Comptroller, and every relevant entity. I frequently identified improper conduct and legal violations, and I kept you updated on all of these matters regularly through the newsletters.

This is the work that takes up most of my time as a council member, as it involves a wide range of issues that I handle simultaneously. For each such issue, I first review and delve into the documents. Only then do I write detailed letters, follow up to see if they respond, correspond, investigate a bit more, and write again. But I am happy to say that in many cases I have succeeded in exposing and stopping improper conduct. And I will continue to do so.

• Voting in favor of projects that contribute to quality of life – I have supported and will continue to support projects only when there is full and transparent disclosure of all information regarding them, and when I receive clear and comprehensive answers to the questions I raise.

• Making information accessible to residents in every possible way – publishing a newsletter every Friday, writing posts on the open forum, providing individual responses to all residents who contact me on a variety of topics, and participating in numerous media interviews so that you are always up to date.

• The accelerated pace of construction in Zichron Yaakov – I regularly monitor the minutes of the Regional Planning and Construction Committee and identify concerning trends and signs that require attention and oversight.

• Strengthening community activities – I have worked and will continue to work to strengthen community activities for the benefit of all the diverse populations in the town.

• Speaking the truth in the face of power – In the face of the considerable power held by the mayor, the council administration, and the coalition, I will continue to speak only the truth and rely solely on verified facts.

Third Issue: The Boycott Declared Against Me by the Council Chair, Which Continues

The law grants every council member the right to request and receive information from the mayor within three days. Otherwise, being a council member becomes a meaningless role. As I have already reported to you here, this law is systematically violated by the council chairman, and department heads—including those whose roles are defined as gatekeepers—blatantly act in accordance with the council chairman’s illegal directive. At one of the meetings, the council chairman also clearly stated that I am under a boycott and that he had instructed council employees not to respond to me. The worst part is that the council’s legal advisor, Attorney Yossi Barzilai—who is responsible for enforcing the law—is participating in the boycott against me and is not responding to my inquiries.

The only person who apparently understands the legal implications is Tzila Reshef, who held a single meeting with me in November to present some of the material I had requested. She promised to take action so that I would regularly receive the information I request. I trust her to keep her promise, and I will update this post accordingly.

All my inquiries to the district commissioner and the official in charge of the authority at the Ministry of the Interior have come to nothing. But I will continue to reach out until I file a petition. Because I cannot fulfill my duties under an ongoing boycott and without receiving information.

Fourth Issue: The Victory in the Petition I Filed Against the Council Head and the Council

I would like to remind you that the petition I filed in 2025 together with the Association of Lawyers for Good Governance was accepted. We won!! The District Court judge, sitting as chair of the District Election Committee, accepted the petition and ruled that a series of publications included in the petition violated the law because they unlawfully linked the council’s activities to its head, amounting to prohibited propaganda and blatant exploitation of the authority’s resources for personal advancement. The judge also ordered the council and the council head to pay me and the association—which also filed the petition—our legal costs.

I am very happy that I won the petition, but I am angry that I was forced to file it simply because the council head and the council’s legal advisor, Attorney Yossi Barzilai, did not respond to my inquiries—including requests delivered in person—and they also ignored letters from the association on the same subject.

Had they responded and addressed the matter, it would have spared me and the association the need to file the petition and, above all, saved the residents money, since the council hired an external law firm to represent it using our funds. It was all completely unnecessary. All that is needed is to respond to my inquiries and obey the law!!!

Fifth issue: The meeting that left the deepest impression on me—the budget meeting

The 2025 budget meeting was held in early April; it was scheduled precisely for the time when the council head had a coalition after agreeing to the inclusion of Zila Reshef, Tzachi Baruch, and Meir Vanunu. Since he had agreed with them on two paid deputy positions and a company car.

It’s important for me to dwell on this because there will soon be a meeting on the 2026 budget.

I was the only one who voted against the budget. Why did I vote against the budget? Because the budget was managed like a Turkish bazaar. Money was handed out to everyone without cutting other expenses or increasing revenue. Anyone who has served on a corporate board knows that you cannot increase a specific expenditure without simultaneously reducing another expenditure or identifying a source of increased revenue. At the 2024 budget meeting held in July 2024, we were then the majority in the opposition, and I remember how for every increase in expenditure, we were immediately required to reduce another expenditure. How every single line in the budget was meticulously tracked. How the treasurer insisted on immediate balance. Because a budget must be balanced.

How was the 2025 budget managed? Anyone who approached the council chair in advance received additions or promises of budget allocations for almost exactly what they requested. It was Tzila and Tzachi who received increases and allocations for areas important to them. This continued at the start of the meeting when the council head announced “amendments” and added tens of thousands of shekels in certain areas.

And I still maintain that many items that were cut or reduced in community and social areas were not budgeted or were eliminated from the budget book. For example, the cancellation of subsidies for summer camps as in the past, the reduction of activities for La Strada, and the halting of cat spaying and neutering due to a budget shortfall. And these are just a few examples that proved I was right.

Another way to reduce expenses, which came up in the meeting, is to transfer the cost of community maintenance from the regular budget we voted on to the TAVARIM fund—an extraordinary budget funded by betterment levies paid by landowners and property owners. I asked in the meeting: Where will we get so much money for the TAVARIM fund?

The council head replied that there will be tens of millions in the development funds and that they plan to do wonderful things with them in the community. I replied during the meeting that I hope the money won’t come from densifying the town center and increasing building rights, because that’s the only thing that boosts the development funds. And in my opinion, residents would prefer fewer expenses funded by the special funds, as long as they don’t cram Zichron Yaakov with construction and turn it into an overcrowded town where you can’t even move.

Here, too, I was unfortunately right. As I reported to you here in the newsletter, data I obtained from the Central Bureau of Statistics shows that between January and June 2025, there was a record of 178 building permits issued!!! Add to that the astonishing fact revealed thanks to an inquiry I submitted, showing that the council did not file a single official objection to the construction plans. And you’ll understand that the town is facing unchecked construction.

At that same 2025 budget meeting, Avigail Dolev from our “Lema’an HaMoshava” faction and I were the only ones who voted against the salaries for the two deputy mayors. I continue to stand by my position today that this is a gross waste of public funds. It is buying a coalition with money—money that could have been invested in the community.

And finally: Zikronites, January–February 2026 – continuing the tradition that began several years ago. This winter, we will once again enjoy musical ensembles featuring artists from various fields, including local artists. For details on other cultural activities, please follow the community center’s announcements.

Yours,

Limor Zer Gutman

Council Member