Dear Interior Minister Gideon Sa'ar,
This week, Beit Shemesh Mayor Moshe Abutbul will chair the first city council meeting since his re-election in October. His re-election, however, remains under a heavy cloud of police inquiry, with proven cases of voter fraud and admissions of corruption, as well as strong allegations of bribery -- crimes that quite possibly swung the 950-vote margin by which Abutbul won against challenger Eli Cohen.
The night after the election results were announced, thousands of Beit Shemesh residents demonstrated to demand a thorough investigation into the fraud. These were not the demands of sore losers, but were based on arrests made on election day itself.
At 2 p.m. on election day, 200 fake IDs, along with costumes prepared to disguise would-be cheaters, were confiscated by the police. People were arrested for voting more than once. A polling station chairman from the mayor's Shas party was also arrested after pocketing all the ballot slips for Cohen, making it impossible for residents to vote for the mayor's main challenger.
In the counting of the votes that evening, some polling stations showed 10 percent more votes cast than the number of recorded voters.
Polling stations in neighborhoods where support for the incumbent mayor was weak were closed during voting hours, causing some residents to lose their opportunity to vote.
The mayor and his supporters also stand accused of illegal campaigning practices.
Yet you, Minister Sa'ar, stated with the utmost confidence that the fraud could not have swayed the results. This statement, made before the full scope of the police investigation has been revealed, has many residents concerned. They worry that you are not actually interested in the fairness of elections, nor in the lives of local residents, which have been significantly and negatively impacted by haredi politicians who have already divested the city of planned commercial, employment and cultural expansion, depleting resources and chasing away investors from this vital working-class city.
The hostile takeover and the illicit means employed are not merely a local Beit Shemesh issue. In other parts of the country, candidates for municipal office, worried about similar trends in their own cities, have taken out ads proclaiming, "We will not become Beit Shemesh." The dramatic changes in a city's demographics at the expense of the founders' children tests the interior minister's integrity.
The not coincidental overlap between the population that wishes to take over Beit Shemesh and those who have employed illicit means of winning elections raises questions of national significance. As a Jewish nation, dedicated to serving as a light unto others, how can we tolerate dishonesty in the name of religion? This week, Beit Shemesh represents a large portion of Israeli politics, on trial for perverting both democratic and religious values for political aims.
But it is not too late.
As Abutbul prepares to present his municipal coalition, you can make it your business to meet with lawyers presenting the suit to have the election results nullified. You can read the affidavits, hear some of the testimonies, meet a few of the disadvantaged immigrants who were offered store vouchers in exchange for not voting. Take a minute to compare just a few ID card addresses with actual proof of residence. Ask yourself why Meir Balayish was given the paid job of deputy mayor just a few hours after he himself ran for mayor, garnering a ridiculous 1 percent of the vote.
Appreciating that this move may risk the wrath of haredi Knesset members (whom you may need in a future bid to become prime minister), the public is asking you to remember that your job as a civil servant is to serve the people, not the other way around. As a soldier in the political battlefield, your eyes must be on the target of keeping our nation secure from the evil forces of corruption, even at risk to your own political fortunes.
In this week of Hanukkah -- a holiday in which we celebrate leaders who remained true to their values, and risked life and limb to ensure Jewish continuity -- you as a former education minister should be aware that this continuity depends more than anything else upon our allegiance to the ethics of honesty and fairness. Without these, we have no right to sovereignty. By the same token, your right to hold office in the Interior Ministry depends on your dedication to electoral fairness and honesty.
It is not too late for you, as interior minister, to acknowledge that something is rotten in the state of Beit Shemesh, and to announce that, until the police complete their investigation, you will follow the state comptroller's recommendation and replace the failing and allegedly corrupt mayor and city council with an appointed professional committee.
In the name of democracy and justice, the entire nation will thank you.
Chana Rosenfelder is a wife and mother, remedial teacher, case manager for special-needs children, and community activist.
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