You'll be surprised: Who is really to blame for there being no Interior Ministry in Modi'in Illit?

May 28, 2014   

The revelation by Haredim10 that although much smaller communities have a branch of the Ministry of the Interior, the third largest Haredi city does not have a branch of the Ministry of the Interior or the Ministry of Health, has caused a storm in the city. • Exclusion of Haredim - Ministry of the Interior in Modi'in not for residents of Kiryat Sefer Residents of the city expressed their anger to the Haredim10 editorial team, especially after they were surprised to discover that there is a branch in the neighboring city of Modi'in, but that it is not intended for them. "Most residents living in Kiryat Sefer do not have a car, and they are forced to 'haggle' on two buses to Ramla or Jerusalem to arrange any minor matter at the government offices," they said angrily. Shia P., a resident of the city who wanted to register his son in the appendix attached to the identity card, was the one who caused the failure when he tried to find out the address of the Ministry of Internal Affairs branch in his area, and discovered to his surprise that in the city where he lives, which has over 60,000 residents, there is no branch of this elementary government office. Some residents attributed this to the government's exclusion of the Haredim, which joins the Modi'in municipality's decision to prohibit entry to the 'Anaba' municipal park to residents of the city of Modi'in Elite. However, an investigation by Haredim10 shows that the blame does not lie with the Ministry of the Interior, but rather with the Modi'in Elite municipality. "The Ministry of the Interior has a very clear policy on the matter," says a senior official in the ministry. "The mayor must provide the ministry with a small building, with two rooms, and two staff quarters. That's all. From that moment on, the Ministry of the Interior undertakes to teach the staff the job, and to ensure the proper operation of the branch, including a computer system that connects it to other Ministry of the Interior branches throughout the country. The senior official in the ministry emphasizes that this is an old policy, dating back to the time of Minister Eli Yishai in the ministry. "This is absolutely not something related to the current government or discrimination against Haredim," he says. We tried to get a response from the Modi'in Elite municipality, but without success. Indeed, the municipality does not respond to websites.