I heard the strangest conversation this morning on the haredi radio station Radio Kol B'Rama. They provide great entertainment on their morning show with Mordechai Lavi, though unfortunately I usually only get to listen to small portions of it on any given day.

Today, when I was listening, they were focusing on the municipal elections in Elad, and were also talking about Bnei Braq and Jerusalem. Lavi had I think 4 Haredi (Shas and UTJ) politicians on the line at the same time for the conversation and they were talking about the complexities of who is running in which towns. And then Lavi went on the attack and took an approach that was almost akin to scoffing at them, which is unusual for him when interviewing Haredi politicians and is usually reserved for his interviews with Dati Leumi and secular politicians.

Mordechai Lavi

The problem is, if you read the Haredi news sites (or, the sites that focus on the haredi parties in the upcoming elections), you will see daily news items of which politician is moving to which city to become the senior representative for which partyy. One day Meir Porush is moving his son to Elad, another day Aryeh Deri is moving someone to Elad, another day Degel is moving Menachem Shapira to Bnei Braq, another day someone else is moving to Jerusalem to run the list, then Deri is moving someone else somewhere else, someone (Amar) from Ashdod is being moved to Modiin, etc. etc. etc.

It has gotten so prevalent that Lavi asked the various politicians on the phone lines, one by one, which city they are changing address to for the coming elections.. A couple of them answered the question and a couple tried to avoid answering. Those who avoided answering used the justification that our politicians know best who is appropriate for which city and where and who will get the job done best.

At the end of the day, they are just worried about which of their friends they can give jobs to. If someone wont do well in one city, they move him to another city where they do not know him. Can someone come in and really run Elad without knowing the town? At least can he run it better than people who have been there for years and know the town well?

Maybe sometimes an outsider is a good idea - someone can come in with a fresh perspective. But to be doing this in towns all over the country, moving people around daily, reeks of protexia and power-mongering rather than really looking for the concerns of the residents. Should our cities be the private fiefdoms of the politicians, allowing them to do what they want, put in place who they want whether or not it is good for the people? That behavior should be rejected. Even if you are a supporter of those parties, you should tell them loud and clear that you want people who will be concerned for the welfare of the residents and not just people who are being taken care of by their buddies.