Political report of the Executive of the Jewish Agency submitted to the ... Zionist Congress and the ... session of the Council of the Jewish Agency · 1937-08-01 · 8.1937 · p. Seite 49

49 ADMINISTRATIVE REARRANGEMENTS 65. One of the very first requests put forward to the Government after the Jaffa outbreak — in a letter addressed by the President of the Jewish Agency to the High Commissioner on the 21st April, 1936 — was for the opening of Government Offices in Tel Aviv. It was pointed out that the denial to Tel Aviv of its own Government Offices had been a long-standing grievance and that the disturbances had made imperative the immediate administrative emancipation of Tel Aviv by the establishment in it of a District Court, District and Revenue Offices, a Land Registry, a Land Settlement Office, an Immigration Office, and Licensing Offices. The same demands were voiced simultaneously by the Municipality of Tel Aviv and various local bodies, including the Tel Aviv Bar Association. The request was granted in respect of most of the Offices asked for, as a result of which Tel Aviv became the administrative centre for all the Jewish agricultural settlements of the district as well. After the end of the Arab strike the Government Health Department insisted that Jewish immigrants whose destination was Tel Aviv and its neighbourhood should resort to the District Health Office of Jaffa for medical examination and treatment. It required special efforts on the part of the Political Department to induce the Government to agree to the discharge of these functions by the Health Office of Tel Aviv and to the requisite enlargement of its staff. 66. Special attention was devoted to the problem of the Jewish quarters forming part of the Municipality of Jaffa and bordering on Tel Aviv. Representations were made for the incorporation of these quarters within the Municipal area of Tel Aviv. It was pointed out that their position as part of the Jaffa Municipality presented an anomaly. They were in fact an outgrowth of Tel Aviv with which they formed one compact unit — geographically, ethnically and economically. Even in normal times they enjoyed a number of services provided by the Municipality of Tel Aviv, notably education, without contributing to the Municipal revenue. During the disturbances even such services as street cleaning and the collection of refuse had been abandoned by the Municipality of Jaffa and had to be discharged by the Municipality of Tel Aviv. The negotiations on this issue remained inconclusive, as the Government considered that no decision in the matter could be taken