‘Local government is the first line of response for citizens,” said Haim Bibas, head of the Federation of Local Authorities in Israel. “It is best positioned to understand their immediate needs.”
In advance of MUNI EXPO 2026, Israel’s leading municipal conference and urban innovation exhibition, which will be held in Tel Aviv on June 23 and 24, Bibas discussed the key role that municipal government plays in Israel, especially in light of the unique security situations that have taken place in Israel over the past three years.
The theme of this year’s conference is “Winning Partnerships.” Addressing the choice of theme, Bibas said, “I think the past few years have taught us that no single entity can tackle the challenges facing the State of Israel on its own. A winning partnership is essentially the ability of the government, local authorities, emergency services, the business sector, and civil society to work together toward a common goal.”
Bibas, who has served as mayor of Modi’in-Maccabim-Re’ut since 2008 in addition to his position at the Federation of Local Authorities in Israel, pointed out that Israel’s municipalities proved their mettle during the cataclysmic events of the past three years, from the pandemic to October 7, to the US-Israel war against Iran.
“We already know how to work, and how to shift from routine to immediate emergency mode, according to the models we built together. There is still plenty of room for work, for improvement, and for cooperation, but we’ve started on the right path,” he said.
Recounting the response of Israel’s municipalities on Oct. 7, Bibas noted that while Israel’s government was slow to respond, it was the local authorities who swiftly led efforts to assist in the evacuation of residents, families, and business owners in the South and North.
One of the catchphrases used in Israel over the past three years since Oct. 7 has been the country’s resilience. Bibas pointed out that resilience is created long before a crisis strikes and is the product of an efficient local community.
“Resilience is not built during a crisis, but rather through a strong community, good education systems, investment in education, volunteers, local government support, and, of course, a local government that functions properly,” he said.
“We’ve also learned that, ultimately, information is a critical component of emergency management, and that cooperation between local authorities can produce a rapid response to residents’ needs.
“In short, to build a strong community – which is no less a strategic asset than any physical infrastructure–we must essentially create the ingredients with which we ultimately build it,” he added.
Israel's municipalities face numerous significant challenges in the coming years ahead, said Bibas. One of the most pressing needs, he explained, is the rehabilitation of Israel’s Northern and Southern regions: “We must complete the reconstruction of Israel’s South, which has proceeded well under the Tkuma Directorate, and we must reconstruct the North and restore a sense of security for the residents.”
Bibas said the government should establish a separate, specialized central authority to rebuild the North, similar to the Tkuma Directorate in the South. “Once you establish a regional authority for the North, that authority manages everything, and once it completes the key tasks, it gradually transfers them to the local authorities, effectively creating a single, professional, central entity that manages everything.”
He added that the government should create economic support structures within the local authorities in the North and South to strengthen them internally and enable them to develop joint industrial and employment initiatives: “We need to provide them with high-quality services for a rapidly growing population, including infrastructure development, education, and healthcare.”
Bibas said that for municipalities to grow and maintain continuity, they need the freedom to work with multi-year budgets, rather than budgets that expire after one year. Planning and building educational institutions, he noted, can take three or four years.
“Eventually, there will be a shortage of educational institutions and classrooms, and we need a 10-year plan. To build an educational institution, you need between a year and a half for a kindergarten, and between three and four years for elementary and secondary schools.
“That is why we need a multi-year plan–a 10-year plan with full planning, full construction, and a roadmap to get started now. The process itself will be spread out over the years,” he explained.
He added that municipalities need to strengthen their tools and capabilities to plan and develop industrial zones and joint employment initiatives.
“When you invest in them,” he said, “you essentially create the possibility for the municipality to become independent, because the revenues generated from these areas will lead to an increase in their budget, effectively granting them independence.”
A third component necessary for municipalities to flourish is the development of what he terms “smart, safe, and digital cities.” Today, said Bibas, Israel’s municipalities are investing their own resources in developing digital cities and do not receive any assistance from the state. This has led to a situation in which the largest and wealthiest cities, such as Modi’in, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Herzliya, have municipalities with innovation hubs, smart cities, and cutting-edge technologies.
In contrast, smaller, less financially well-off municipalities lack these advantages.
“There are between 40 and 50 local authorities that have these features, but there are still over 200 local municipalities that need them,” he shared. “If they don’t receive the grants or support and can’t implement these things, they won’t make any progress.
“In the end, it’s not smart for the strong to race ahead while the weak lag behind. We need to bring this to the periphery; we need to bring this to all sectors; we need to bring this to everyone, and to do that, we need state resources.”
Warming to the concept of digital cities, Bibas explained that while technology is changing the way that local authorities operate, “the goal is not to be cutting-edge for the sake of innovation itself, but to use advanced tools to improve residents’ lives.
“Ultimately, using data enables more accurate and faster decision-making. Smart systems help manage the city by strengthening the sense of security. For example, automated irrigation and weather systems determine the optimal times to activate irrigation, saving money that would otherwise be wasted.
“Artificial intelligence, data analysis, and digital systems enable us to identify needs earlier, make better decisions, and ultimately provide faster and more accurate service.”
Bibas explained that digital dashboards for monitoring energy consumption, irrigation, environmental impact, security, and other areas can streamline municipal operations and save significant resources that can be reinvested primarily in education and culture.
He cited MuniForce, a real-time, data-driven management system being developed by the Federation of Local Authorities in Israel with Salesforce for local governments, and the security features it can provide.
“Imagine you’re managing a major event, and a missile strikes a building,” he said. “You’d want to know the demographic breakdown of the building’s residents in advance – age groups, socioeconomic status – all the factors needed to address the situation effectively in terms of components, social services, education, and so on. This is where predictive technologies and emergency management come in.”
Beyond technology, he explained, local municipalities can unite Israeli society.
“This is where all segments of Israeli society – Right, Center, Left, religious, secular, traditional – come together. I think that committed local leaders are obligated to serve the residents first and foremost, regardless of their personal views.
“In times of conflict, of course, local authorities always play a central role in building connections and fostering trust. And ultimately, local authorities can better understand residents and foster the right dialogue with them through their governance, and use that to create the right dialogue that will lead to bridging the divides and narrowing disagreements,” he said.
In addition to officials from local governments, participants in next week’s MUNI EXPO will include global leaders and professional delegations who will gather to discuss common urban challenges and opportunities for cooperation. Bibas suggested that Israelis and those from outside the country can each learn from the other.
“Israel can learn from international experience in many areas of urban innovation, sustainability, and urban planning,” he said. “The world can also learn from local authorities in our country regarding emergency management, community resilience, and rapid response to crises.”
Bibas said the key message of this year’s MUNI EXPO is that the local government can truly be a winning operational force. “Partnership with local government will inevitably lead to our ability to advance projects and, through that, service to residents and, through that, the satisfaction of residents,” he said.
The world is changing rapidly, he concluded, and local governments must set the pace: “The world is changing much faster than we thought, even though we’ve been focusing on innovation, smart cities, safe cities, and AI municipal systems for several years now.”
“We need to be the first to promote smart, safe cities and smart management, to redirect the resources and budgets saved through efficiency toward more education, more culture, and more meaningful services – that is the central message,” Bibas concluded.
This article was written in cooperation with the Federation of Local Authorities in Israel.