Weekly Update 98

August 14, 2026

Thank you for taking the time to respond to the survey I sent out. The results showed a very high level of satisfaction with the newsletter, and I appreciate the suggestions for improvement that I’ve already begun to implement—especially regarding the visual aspects. One suggestion was to include updates on topics that were previously covered and are still being addressed, in order to provide a current and consistent overview. This is an excellent idea, and I’m already beginning to implement it in this newsletter.

1. Update—The process of constructing an approximately 210-square-meter event hall in the center of the town is continuing. The location is the public area adjacent to the Great Synagogue in the center of the town, even though it is a national heritage site.
2. The Ongoing Harm to Me—and the Fight for the Public’s Right to Know
3. You asked to know who the council members are, how they’re divided into factions, who receives a salary, and who, like me, volunteers—all the details are in the table I prepared.
4. This is also happening in Zichron—Shabbat Culture on Saturday morning. You’re invited to register for the first event, which will take place tomorrow. “Shabbat Culture” was initiated by the New Contract faction and is planned and operated by the Zamarin Community Center, which is responsible for all cultural events in the town.

1. Update: The process of building an event hall covering an area of approximately 210 square meters in the center of the town is continuing.

📌 **Reminder:** The plot of land adjacent to the “Ohel Yaakov” Great Synagogue, across from Gan Tiul, is **public open space** and a **national heritage site** (like the Western Wall, for example). It is our duty to preserve heritage sites—not to build a 210-square-meter event hall on them that serves no purpose and will only benefit the synagogue committee’s coffers.

The head of the local council has been working for over a decade to build an event hall on this site that would belong to the synagogue. He also intends to allocate or transfer the historic synagogue from the council’s hands in the future (as he stated in a letter to the Registrar of Associations)—which is yet another problem in this entire irregular process.

🔴 **Update:** The council head is not stopping. As mentioned, the council submitted the plans for the event hall—now euphemistically called the **“Library and Lecture Hall”**—to the Regional Planning and Construction Committee. This is despite the Council’s clear opposition to the preservation of historic sites, despite unequivocal opinions from the District Committee—including one from this past year signed by Ronen Segal, the district planner—and despite the fact that in the past, during Abutbul’s previous terms, the District Planning Committee had opposed the project—he is not backing down. About two months ago, Abutbul managed to get the plan approved by the Regional Committee, while the members of the Regional Committee’s plenary session completely ignored the Regional Committee’s unequivocal opposition to the plan proposed by the Council.

❗I requested to attend this Regional Committee meeting to represent the public (there is still no public representative from Zichron Ya’akov on the committee)—and my request was denied.

❗I also requested a recording of the meeting so that you could hear how our council head speaks in a crude and humiliating manner toward the council representative for heritage preservation, simply because he is fulfilling his duty and protecting a heritage site. He behaved the same way toward the representative from the Haifa District. This was not a substantive discussion of the plan, but rather **a horror show put on by a man who is used to everyone obeying only him—and woe to anyone who thinks otherwise.**

Remember the incident involving Abutbul’s threatening phone call to the owner of the Eden-In Hotel. A threatening phone call that led to a police investigation, which recommended that he be prosecuted. An investigation that led to Abutbul’s resignation in 2016 (special elections were held for the council).

The police investigation was closed. But the man hasn’t changed.

⚠️ **Abutbul succeeded—the legacy lost.**

The plan was approved by the regional committee and has now been forwarded to the district committee.

I’m not letting this go. Because I’m horrified by the thought that an open public space—part of which is a historic site—will be covered by **210 meters of an event hall**, which will bring money into the synagogue committee’s coffers —at the cost of destroying the historic fabric of the colony’s center.

### 🏛️ Another Update – Appointment as Preservation Trustee

As a result of my efforts to save this heritage site, the **Council for the Preservation of Heritage Sites in Israel** has decided to appoint me as the **community preservation trustee**. This is a voluntary public/community role, intended to serve as a local representative or liaison to promote the protection of buildings, sites, and historical heritage in the community. My role is **to raise the alarm, document, appeal, mobilize public agencies, and request that the Council intervene.*

📍 As I already did at the last plenary session regarding the dangerous building they’re seeking to demolish in the Nili parking lot. At the session, I stated that this is a building designated for preservation, and therefore there is a special procedure for its demolition that requires a **documentation file**. It was the council that designated it as a building worthy of preservation, and it must act in accordance with the law. I’m keeping an eye on this. 👀

1. The Ongoing Harassment Against Me—and the Fight for the Public’s Right to Know

I rarely share with you the offensive treatment I regularly receive from the council chair, his deputy Zila Reshef, and other coalition members. Anyone who watches the council meetings can see this for themselves. And my appeals are often met with complete disregard—as part of the boycott declared by the council chair nearly two years ago.

🔴 What are my “sins”? That I don’t always vote in favor of the coalition, that I have an independent opinion, and that I examine issues in depth and ask questions. I read the minutes, review building plans, study the agenda and accompanying materials in depth, compare them to minutes from previous terms, walk around the town, and talk with residents. I do this on a volunteer basis and out of a commitment to the thousands of residents who voted for our faction.

📢 And when I uncover contradictions, failures, or the concealment of information—things that are not disclosed to the public—and, in serious cases, actions that violate the rules of good governance and the law —I take action with law enforcement or the council administration and report them transparently in the newsletter.

This is the very essence of democracy; it is the role of the opposition in a democracy: to hold the government accountable, to demand information, to highlight problems, and to present the full picture to the public. The community belongs to you, the residents—not to the council chair or the council members. We are here on your behalf and for your benefit.

And this really upsets them.

🏗️ This was also the case with the project planned for the unpaved parking lot near the country club. I am very much in favor of a memorial center and the establishment of a monument to the fallen, and I am certainly in favor of a center for senior citizens. I would like to remind you that our faction began promoting this important initiative during the previous term. At the last meeting, all members of the plenary voted in favor of the budget increase requested by the council chair, and I opposed it because of the massive auditorium included in the project. My opposition sparked a personal attack against me, both during the meeting and later in the council members’ WhatsApp group.

⚠️ And this week it happened again, following the information I published in the newsletter regarding a 5 million NIS grant from the JNF.

I voted **in favor** of accepting the grant and even praised it in the newsletter as an important project. But upon reviewing the details both before the meeting and during the meeting itself, I discovered a discrepancy between the streets listed in the JNF’s written authorization and the area we were told during the meeting was the one for which the funding was received (Nahal Gibor), which is actually located within a different street district. This is a material flaw that could affect the receipt of the funds.

I emailed the council administration about this the very next day after the meeting—and received no response for 11 days.

Following the publication in the newsletter, as soon as Shabbat ended, Zila Reshef attacked me in the WhatsApp group and claimed that the KKL had approved the Gibor project. I waited until Sunday morning and sent her an email in which I demonstrated the discrepancy: KKL-JNF had not approved the Gibor project at all, but rather other streets, as I had pointed out.

Then a different version emerged: Zila returned to the WhatsApp group and wrote: If the JNF approves Gibor—“we’ve won”; and if not—“an adjustment will be made.” In other words, there is actually a problem with the authorization, and the matter will be reviewed with the KKL.

🎯 That’s exactly the point: I didn’t ask to block the grant—on the contrary, I voted in favor of it. The investigation I conducted was intended to ensure that the money reaches the community and the project for which it was intended. The very fact that I investigated and shared my findings with you has once again sparked a personal attack from Tzila, Tzachi, and the council head, including harsh and defamatory remarks in the group chat—far from the kind of professional discussion that should take place via email rather than WhatsApp.

Just as in the discussion about the event hall at the regional committee, this is yet another instance of bullying intended to intimidate those who think differently, cloaked in slogans of “working for the community.” They accused me of focusing on trivialities and procedural matters—as if financial oversight and adherence to the law were marginal issues. If that’s the case, according to their logic, we can do without the council members, and the council chair will do everything alone—without oversight.

🚫 But there’s something else that worries me far more than the personal treatment I’ve received.

⚠️ I’ve come to realize anew how, during that same council chair’s previous term, appalling acts were allowed to take place—acts that led to a prolonged police investigation into Abutbul; that led to serious reports by the State Comptroller; that led to the granting of whistleblower protection to council employees who exposed corruption; that led to decisions involving millions of shekels without the council members knowing there was no money—until the town fell into a massive deficit. Because the council members at the time did not scrutinize, did not ask questions, trusted that same council chairman and the council administration that obeyed his every command, were blinded by “the projects and the buildings,” and did not adhere to proper procedure and good governance.

When there is no one to ask questions, investigate, and challenge those in power, it is very easy for things like this to happen.

🎯 And the two council members who supported Abutbul as mayor back then are the very same two who support him unreservedly today and who attack me for asking questions and investigating: Zila Reshef, who was also deputy mayor at the time, and Tzachi Baruch.

🔎 I have no intention of staying silent, nor do I intend to stop investigating. I am very concerned because I see alarming signs that remind me of the past.

📢 **My fight is not personal. It’s about transparency, accountability, and your right to know what’s happening in your community.**

And what can you do? Help me expose what they don’t want the public to know.

📩 Please forward this newsletter to two other residents who would like to subscribe, and send me their email addresses.

3. You asked to know who the council members are, how they’re divided into factions, who is paid, and who, like me, volunteers—all the details are in the table I prepared.

One of the responses to the open-ended question in the survey asked who the council members are, what they do for a living, whether they are volunteers or paid, their educational background, etc. The table below is intended to partially answer this question. I do not have verified information regarding the occupations and educational backgrounds of the council members. It’s a shame that the council’s website does not provide this information about the council members.

4. It’s happening in Zichron, too—at “Shabbat in Culture” on Saturday morning.

Registration on the Zamarin website is open. See you at the event.