Israeli Cities on Strike Over Controversial Property Tax Law

On Sunday, The Federation of Local Authorities in Israel declared their intention to initiate a general strike on Monday regarding a controversial property tax law advanced by the government.

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The proposed law mandates wealthy local authorities to redistribute the earnings derived from commercial real estate business to financially disadvantaged urban areas as an incentive for increased residential development.

Furthermore, local authorities will have to allocate up to 28 percent of their yearly earnings from property taxes to a designated found.

The federation encompassing all municipalities and local councils in Israel avowed that the proposed legislation will have a deleterious impact on the residents as well as numerous sectors such as education, welfare and culture.

"It is not our duty to take care of budgetary sources for solving national crises," said the Federation’s statement.

After the announcement of a strike, Israeli Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, held a press conference during which he said that the proposed legislation is specifically targeted to address the country's prevailing housing crisis.

According to the Federation, the strike will start on Monday morning and will include schools and kindergartens shutdown, as well as ceasing the provision of any services offered by the municipality such as waste management, sewage treatment, security measures, welfare services, inspection capabilities, and cultural amenities.

Some municipalities have decided not to participate in the strike, Jerusalem Municipality being one of them.