Local Government In Israel Research Articles

Innovation and adaption in local governments in the face of COVID‐19: Determinants of effective crisis management

AbstractLocal governments were instrumental in managing the COVID‐19 crisis in countries worldwide. This study examines the methods that local governments in Israel used to successfully manage the COVID‐19 crisis. We explored the structural characteristics of the localities that excelled at managing the pandemic. Furthermore, we used measures of the spread of the virus and vaccination rates to identify a group of localities that managed the crisis with relative success. We conducted interviews with officials from these localities to determine the methods, policies, and conditions that led to success. We found that ethnicity, distance from urban centers, and socioeconomic status were associated with effective COVID‐19 management. We also identified several intraorganizational and interorganizational policies and practices that were successful: crisis‐adjusted management, a unified organizational atmosphere, digitalization, information management, autonomous decision making, and the fostering of collaborative relationships. Implications of the findings for the All Hazards Approach to disaster management are discussed.

Lack of reform in Israeli local government and its impact on modern developments in public management

ABSTRACT Lack of reform or the slow pace of reform in public management is an issue that plagues Israel, particularly in local government (Beeri & Razin, 2015; Levi et al., 2020; Razin & Lindsey, 2017). Based on the assumption that public reform, meaning changes to the structures and processes of public organizations designed to improve their performance (Pollitt & Bouckaert, 2017), is a feature of modern governance, studies investigating lack of reform have suggested it as evidence of non-governability, lack of management, lack of leadership and even public anarchy (e.g., Jeffery, 2008; Rahat & Hazan, 2011). However, its wide-ranging and theoretical influence has not yet been examined in depth, its connections to recent trends in public management have yet to be clarified, and its ramifications for the management of Israeli local municipalities are unclear. Thus, I explore the theoretical and practical interactions between the attributes and circumstances of the lack of reform of local government in Israel – especially in its management. I also examine how recent global trends such as the co-production of value and the coronavirus outbreak may postpone or accelerate such reform.

Explaining the policy practice of community social workers

Summary Policy change is a core goal of community social workers. This study aims to identify the motivational and facilitating factors associated with community social workers’ engagement in policy practice, defined as policy involvement undertaken in the workplace context. The sample comprised of 106 community social workers employed by local government in Israel and the data were collected between June 2015 and February 2017. Findings The findings showed that community social workers are more likely to engage in policy when they enjoy higher professional status, possess more policy practice resources, have higher psychological involvement in politics, are more involved in political and professional networks, and sense that they enjoy greater organizational support for policy practice. Applications In seeking to enhance the engagement of community social workers in the policy process, social work education should provide future community social workers with policy practice skills and a sense of psychological engagement in politics. It should also encourage their participation in political networks and offer training that affords them opportunities to develop the organizational skills needed to further macro goals in a social service agency setting. In their workplace, community social workers seeking to engage in policy practice need to nurture an organizational culture that supports social workers’ policy involvement. Given that this study is on a single Israeli sample, future research on community social workers in additional work settings and in other countries is required in order to advance knowledge on this crucial, yet understudied, form of professional activity.

Centralization, neoliberalism, and housing policy central–local government relations and residential development in Israel

In recent decades, many countries have experienced decentralization and neoliberal processes. The literature usually refers to decentralization as an outcome of growing neoliberalism, but are these two processes analytically connected? This study answers the question by examining the relationship between central and local government in Israel in the context of housing policy. It focuses on a housing policy called Heskem Gag (“umbrella agreement”), an agreement between the government and local authorities to rapidly increase the supply of housing units. Whereas Heskem Gag might seem an act of decentralization, in-depth analysis paints a mixed picture: although some terms of the agreement promote fiscal and administrative autonomy, others curb it and have a strong centralizing effect. The study discusses the possibility of a hybrid model of neoliberal centralism, and its problematic ramifications for the interests of local residents, especially the disadvantaged. Although the findings are based on the Israeli case, they are relevant to many countries with a neoliberal economy that have undergone decentralization in recent decades, especially at times of national crises.

Perceived crisis management and its effect on re-election: the case of local government in Israel under the Second Lebanon War

The performance of local authority heads in times of emergency is a topic that has apparently received very little attention in the research literature. The same is true with regards to the relationship between performance and re-election chances in crisis situations. The hybrid macro polity view makes it possible to ‘pit’ the rational school of objective performance against the bounded rationality school of perceived performance. We examine which of the two is better at explaining the replacement or re-election of the incumbent local authority head in 17 local authorities in the North of Israel, after the Second Lebanon War. In the “Beauty Queen” contest between perceived and objective performance, the perceived performance appears to be a clear winner.

Arab Local Government in Israel: Partial Modernisation as an Explanatory Variable for Shortages in Management

About one-third of all local and regional councils in Israel are Arab. Ever since their establishment, and especially during the last decade, the Arab authorities have suffered from financial crises and from administrative and organisational deficiencies that jeopardize their functioning. Arab local politics is characterised by the increased strength of traditional clan-affiliated forces, at the expense of modern representative groups. The present article has tried to explain the problems that beset the management of Arab local government in Israel. We believe that the explanation is rooted in the fact that ‘partial modernisation’ is the dominant explanatory variable for Arab local government shortages.

The provision of oral care by local government authorities in Israel: Policy issues and empirical evidence

Local governments in Israel are responsible for the provision of oral health care to school children in their jurisdictions. Although Israel benefits from a high ratio of dentists to population, the evidence indicates a relatively poor level of juvenile oral health. The current study examines why some local government authorities engage in the provision of dental care to school children while others do not. Data were collected from several sources including the Ministries of Health and the Interior, the Central Bureau of Statistics, and the Israel Dental Association. The findings show that 28% of all localities provided public oral care to only one-third of Israeli school children: localities with low socioeconomic status, those that belong to the Arab sector, and the larger localities tend to supply oral healthcare to their school children. The discussion centers on understanding policy motives to engage or refrain from the provision of public dental care to Israeli children. Dental care can help improve the oral health of Israeli youngsters and contribute further to economic efficiency by diminishing the increased liability of the central government to provide total dental care to soldiers who regularly serve for 3 years after completing high school. This suggests that there is a need to revise government policy so that financial coverage for dental health care services can be provided to all Israeli children.

The Fiscal Distress of Local Governments in Israel

Local governments in many countries experience fiscal distress, making it a worldwide phenomenon. For years, many of the local authorities in Israel have been coping with ongoing, acute fiscal distress, which has had a significant impact on their capacity to create and deliver public value to their residents. Using case studies and hard (accounting and statistics) data, the present study attempts to provide a critical analysis of the fiscal distress affecting local governments throughout Israel. Specifically, the present article assesses the fiscal conditions of local governments in Israel and potential remedies for dealing with this ongoing problem.

Internal auditing in local government in Israel: Status vs effectiveness?

Internal auditing in local government in Israel: Status vs effectiveness?

Prior Financial Performance as A Predictor of Perceived Organizational Reputation: An Empirical Examination among Local Authorities in Israel

This study explores the relationship between prior financial performance and perceived organizational reputation of local authorities in Israel. in the business sector, studies have indicated that prior financial performance, such as ROA, is found to be a good predictor of corporate reputation (McGuire, Sundgren and Schneeweiss, 1988; Hammond and Slocum, Jr., 1996). the local government in Israel has been experiencing an ongoing financial crisis. However, while some local authorities have inferior financial performance, others have managed to attain a superior financial position. Unfortunately, the established argument that the influence of past financial performance yields the core nature of the reputation construct has not been tested in the public sector, particularly among local authorities. The results of testing this construct among 112 Israeli local authorities (42.6% of the target population) for 1997 and 1998 showed that only two financial measures remained in the equation for each year. in 1997, the financial measures were the collecting efficiency ratio and the income-to-expenses ratio in the regular budget. These two measures explained 11.6 percent of a local authority's perceived organizational reputation in the year 2000. in 1998, the financial measures were the collecting efficiency ratio and the per-resident surplus (deficit) ratio. These measures explained 15.5 percent of a local authority's perceived organizational reputation in 2000. the results may lead local authorities to acknowledge the importance of being in a superior financial position in order to have a favorable organizational reputation.

The attractiveness of the seemingly unattractive: An Israeli case

The aim of this article is to analyse what makes local government in Israel, which enjoys only minimal formal power, so attractive to many political parties and other organisations. The article offers a typology of the contestants in the local government electoral arena: old parties, parties attempting to penetrate local government from parliament and parties using local government to enter parliament. The primary goal of every type is then identified: party formation, institutionalisation and survival. From this typology an explanatory model is developed which looks at the local government as a ‘linkage agent’ from which the national parties can mobilise various important resources thus achieving their primary goals.

Prospects of the Palestinians in Israel: II: The Arab Population in the Israeli Economy. . Aziz Haidar. ; Social Welfare Services for Israel's Arab Population. . Aziz Haidar. ; Education and Social Change among the Arabs in Israel. . Majid Al-Haj. ; Arab Local Government in Israel. . Majid Al-Haj, Henry Rosenfeld. ; The Health Care of the Arabs in

Prospects of the Palestinians in Israel: II: The Arab Population in the Israeli Economy. . Aziz Haidar. ; Social Welfare Services for Israel's Arab Population. . Aziz Haidar. ; Education and Social Change among the Arabs in Israel. . Majid Al-Haj. ; Arab Local Government in Israel. . Majid Al-Haj, Henry Rosenfeld. ; The Health Care of the Arabs in

Local government in Israel

Local government in Israel

Local Government in Israel

Local Government in Israel

Split-Ticket Voting in Israel

T IS BEYOND DEBATE that the focus of poltical power in Israel is at the national level. Politically and administratively, local government in Israel is dependent on the political parties and the government ministries which operate from the center.' Israeli politics, for historical and structural reasons, has always been dominated by national, rather than local, power. Since before the establishment of the state in 1948, an agrarian, almost anti-urban ideology has dominated the important political parties of the country.2 The relatively small size of the country and the newness of the settlers tended to prevent the establishment of regional sectional bases of cleavage. This lack of local autonomy coincided with the establishment of most of the Jewish settlements in Palestine, especially between the two world wars, by such national institutions as the Jewish Agency and the Histadrut, and, after independence, by the government itself.3 Since the establishment of Israel in 1948 the institutional map of local government has changed considerably. In 1948 there were 13 municipalities and 23 local councils, a total of 36 organized Jewish local authorities; by 1966 the total had jumped to 98 Jewish authorities, with 24 municipalities and 74 local councils. By 1966, only 0.3 percent of the Jewish population was not organized under an elected local authority.4 In electing both his national and local representatives, the voter casts his ballot for a list of candidates proposed by a political party rather than for individual candidates directly. The party receives mandates in national and local elections in proportion to the total number of votes it obtains. Since it is unusual for one party to win an absolute majority in the elections, an intense process of bargaining to form the ruling coalition at both the national and local levels follows closely upon the publication of the election results.5 This bargaining process is usually very complex and again demonstrates the dependence of local government on the national parties: coalition agreements in municipalities and local councils are often dictated by the political needs of the national party. It is not unusual for the coalition deliberations concerning many local authorities to be held simultaneously, headed by the officials of the various parties responsible for municipal affairs. The arrangements which will affect the local government are often deter-