The only one of the Holyland convicts who still holds public office is Jerusalem City Council member Eli Shamchiof. As we reported in Haredim10 earlier, Shamchiof sent a letter to Mayor Nir Barkat informing him that he himself is no longer serving on the council.
In order to understand what the suspension means, and what the current legal situation is, we present to you the legal language in the Municipal Ordinance, which details what should be done in the event that a council member is convicted of a crime that is associated with disgrace:
• Shamshiof has suspended himself from the Jerusalem Municipality "pending the ruling on the appeal""
Section 123 B. (a) states: If the court determines that the offense of which the council member was convicted constitutes a cause of dishonor, the council member will be suspended from office until a final judgment is rendered in his case.
Section 125 (a) states: A council member who has ceased to hold office or whose term has expired shall be replaced by the candidate whose name appears on that member's list of candidates after the names of the candidates elected from it in the previous council elections; and if this candidate has already entered the council in this way before, or is disqualified or cannot be a council member for any other reason, or has notified the mayor in writing that he does not wish to be a council member, he shall be replaced by the candidate whose name appears next on the said list of candidates; and so on.
However, in the event that the Supreme Court reverses the ruling and acquits the council member or determines that the offense is not a disgrace, subsection (b) of section 123 states that the council member who takes his place will cease to hold office, and the acquitted council member will automatically return to his term on the council.
The meaning of this is that, in fact, starting today, Asher Mishaly is serving as Jerusalem City Council member number 6 on the Shas list in Jerusalem, but he will have to wait for the next council meeting, which will take place in about two and a half weeks - on May 29, at which his membership will be confirmed and he will be sworn in as a full council member.
Mishaly already served as a council member for Shas in the previous term, and held the youth dropout portfolio. He became famous for his fight against discrimination in seminaries in Jerusalem, and is friends with attorney Yoav Lalum, who filed the petition with the High Court of Justice in the Emanuel case - which will be difficult for him to do now, in light of the fact that the Haredi education portfolio in the city is held by Shas Deputy Mayor Zvika Cohen.
Mishaly is identified with former Shas chairman Eli Yishai, and for this reason was pushed out of the Shas Jerusalem list in the last elections. Officials in the office of the current chairman, MK Aryeh Deri, have been grappling with how to act on the issue for some time now. In addition, Mishaly serves as a member of the Histadrut executive committee on behalf of Shas.
Attorney Yehuda Gutman assisted with the legal part of the article.
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