Will Israel Move Its Offices to Yerushalayim Too?

YERUSHALAYIM

The wildly heated discussion about moving the U.S. embassy to Yerushalayim has obscured a curiosity of local officialdom, namely that much of Israel’s governmental offices remain located in Tel Aviv.

The Israeli government has missed a May 2015 deadline for transferring all its ministries to the capital. The next deadline is 2019, according to Globes on Sunday. However, a more realistic goal would be some sunny day in 2025, according to Minister Zeev Elkin, who’s in charge of it.

Ministries that have applied for an exemption from the move include the Ministry for Development of the Negev and the Galil, management of the Ministry of Education, entire sections of the Ministry of Justice, and management offices in the Ministries of Transport, Internal Security, and Culture and Sport.

The Ministry of Yerushalayim Affairs and Heritage, headed by MK Zeev Elkin (Likud), has been tasked with implementing the change.

Elkin told the Knesset Internal Affairs and Environment Committee last July that of 140 government units, “Nine have moved so far, and 37 units are in the process of moving.”

Elkin said that by May 2019, 28 government units would be moved, and the process would be completed in 2025. He added, “40 units have asked the exceptions committee for exemptions. 20 units were refused.”

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