אוטונומיה עירונית: בחינת שינויים ביחסי עיר-מדינה בישראל

This article examines recent changes in the relationship between local and the central government in Israel, and the rise of municipal autonomy. The article addresses two interrelated yet empirically and conceptually distinct types of municipal autonomy. The first is the ordinary exercise of cities’ administrative and planning powers independent of higher governmental level intervention. The second type of municipal autonomy is the extraordinary exercise of cities’ political power in relation to higher-level government authorities.While cities are typically characterized as a sub-unit of the state, cities are increasingly becoming semi-independent political actors. With this new role, cities are currently engaged in policy fields traditionally associated with the state or the global political system, such as immigration and climate change. By advancing policies in fields that are neglected or insufficiently addressed by the state (e.g., climate policy) or by designing municipal policies that challenge national legislation (e.g., issues relating to the Sabbath in Israel), cities are claiming greater administrative and political autonomy.Although these developments bring municipal autonomy to the fore of social and political research, a deeper understanding of how this autonomy is reflected in municipal policy-making is lacking.In this context, we ask: what are the existing positions regarding municipal autonomy in Israel among officials in local and central governments and engaged citizens in civil society? What conditions enable the growth of municipal autonomy in Israel?Furthermore, what tensions and conflicts arise between cities and the central government in light of efforts to enhance municipal autonomy? These questions are examined by analyzing ten test cases from 2019‒2020. The case studies were chosen based on a distinction between: (1) innovative local policies that fill a government alvacuum and, to some extent, challenge the policies of the central government, such as municipal supervision of daycare centers and the promotion of LGBT rights at the local level; (2) local urban policies that challenge the processes and attitudes of the central government; for example, the “Sabbath wars” (opening of businesses and public transportation on Shabbat); and (3) autonomous local policies that lead to violations of individual rights and liberties, such as in cases of exclusion of women and ethno national minorities from the public sphere. For each test case, we conducted an extensive review of policy documents and media coverage, a survey among professional and relevant experts, and semi-structured interviews with 40 stakeholdersand experts in these policy fields.Finally, the article offers a normative assessment of municipal autonomy in Israel. In light of the complex picture that emerges from the analysis, reservations arise about dualistic divisions and a mindset according to which “cities are good, and states are bad.” However, the conclusions emphasize that the increase in the degree of autonomy of cities requires rethinking the institutional design and power structure of there lationship between the local and central governments. In a country characterized by a high level of national, ethnic, religious, and class heterogeneity, it is possible that increasing the degree of municipal autonomy is an inseparable part of the needed changes in the governmental structure and an essential element for maintaining the common urban and national goods.