Degel Hatorah faction chairman MK Moshe Gafni, and MKs Uri Maklev, Yaakov Asher, and Yitzhak Pindarus, sent a letter today (Monday) to the director of the Tax Authority, Shai Aharonovitz, following his decision to delay the processing of compensation claims by Bnei Brak residents.
In their letter, the Knesset members emphasize that, alongside absolute condemnation of all violence against public servants, there is no place for collective punishment of thousands of residents who were harmed in the war.
Knesset members demand that the decision be immediately revoked and discrimination against the city's residents stopped.
As reported in Haredim 10, after a meeting held yesterday between Tax Authority Director Shai Aharonovitz and Bnei Brak Mayor Hanoch Seibert - the Tax Authority's compensation fund will continue to provide services to Bnei Brak residents whose homes were affected by 'Am Kalavi' and 'Ari's Roar',
According to a statement from the municipality's spokesperson, the mayor emphasized in his remarks that "there is no place for violence in the city of Torah and Hasidism, whose faith is in the ways of peace. And that public employees and the tax authority in general do their job faithfully, in Bnei Brak as in every city in the country.".
The Director of the Tax Authority said in his remarks that the Tax Authority will continue to provide the best service to all residents of the city of Bnei Brak, as it has done so far and will continue to do so.
However, according to a report by Shilo Fried, despite the agreement between the Bnei Brak municipality and the director of the Tax Authority, Tax Authority employees continue to shut down the service in the city.
Lawyer Ofir Alkalai, chairman of the Histadrut of State Employees, said: "A well-publicized meeting with the mayor still does not guarantee the safety of Tax Authority employees. Unfortunately, no dialogue took place with the employee representatives on the matter, and a future attack could take place tomorrow - and therefore Tax Authority employees will not return to work in the city of Bnei Brak until we know how to maintain their safety while working.".
Last Thursday, the head of the Tax Authority sent a letter to the mayor of Bnei Brak, Hanoch Seibert, informing him that he had ordered an immediate halt to all processing of damages from the wars with Iran for city residents, due to attacks on Authority personnel while performing their work in the Wiznich housing estate - on two occasions.
