In Israel the civil administration is broken down into two types of local government. One is the municipal council which is the equivalent of an American city government and headed by a mayor. The other is the regional council which is similar to an American county government. These bodies deal with local issues like garbage collection, schools, and enforcing regulations. Our dog gets his annual vaccination from the veterinarian of the local council.
Local councils deal with items concerning all owns, villages, and kibbutzim that have populations below the ~20000 threshold needed for recognition as a municipal council. Meitzad is one of the small towns that is part of the Gush Etzion regional council. It’s located a few miles south of where we live, closer to Palestinian Hebron than to Jerusalem. The residents are all ultra-orthodox. Our community is mixed modern orthodox,
Yesterday a terrorist tried to drive his car through the gate at Meitzad. The army gate guards stopped him. In the fire fight that ensued he was killed. Among the items in his car were a rifle, several magazines of ammunition, and an axe. He’s no longer able to tell us why he wanted to get inside the village, but the intelligence services know that Hamas has been trying to recruit residents of local villages, and to send them to kill Jews in the area. The IDF and the police have cooperated in making incursions into many Arab villages, towns, and cities to thwart those efforts. Since October 7th there have been over 2000 arrests made in Arab locations in Judea and Samaria, Over half of them were registered members of Hamas.
The Palestinian Authority is responsible for local government in those places. The PA has not made any efforts to halt the recruitment, despite the fact that the Fatah Party in control of the PA does not get along well with Hamas. In fact, because the Arab street still strongly supports Hamas, the PA decided to designate anyone killed or incarcerated in recent operations as eligible for PA financial aid. The PA pays a stipend to the individuals, or their families. Under current working arrangements Palestinians employed in Israel have their social welfare payments deducted by Israel and the funds are later transferred to the PA. This sparked a flare-up between the Israeli Prime Minister and the Finance Minister. The latter says he will not transfer funds to the PA as long as the Arabs pay terrorists (or families) for attacking Jews, This is known locally as a “Pay for Slay” program.
The Prime Minister overrules him and money is still going to the PA (who prioritizes the stipend payments over almost all other municipal expenses). What a strange world we live in.
Wetherhorn 