Law to Postpone the General Local Authority Elections (Amendment), 5784-2023

The local authority elections are postponed. The elections planned for October 30, 2023 will be held on January 30, 2024. If a candidate for head of a regional council was killed as a fallen soldier or as a result of a hostile act, in connection with the special security situation, their estate will be compensated for election expenses they lawfully incurred. The compensation will not exceed the advances they received under the Elections Financing Law, minus the amount they would have received under that law had they won all the votes. Civil servants and career soldiers who were required to take leave or end their service to run in the elections will not need to do so until 30 days before the new election date. A candidate who had to take unpaid leave or stop their service to run, and followed the law, will be entitled to a special payment from their employer. The payment will be 70% of their regular salary, up to 11,870 shekels a month. It will be calculated from the salary the candidate would have received had they kept working. Conditions for taking advances for election financing will be eased. Deposits given to run in the elections can be partly returned early. The permitted amount of donations to a candidate or list will rise, for example from 10% to 12% of the permitted expenses. The time a candidate spent on unpaid leave or with service stopped will count as seniority for pension rights. If the candidate was entitled to an allowance from a provident fund, the employer will keep paying into the fund, as long as the candidate paid their share. Further temporary provisions cover changes to the various election laws, including adjusting dates, changes to committee makeup and procedures, and raising certain amounts related to election financing. For example, the deposit required to submit a list will be cut from 5,000 shekels to 2,500 shekels.

Source: חוק - פרסום ברשומות