Mayor Shlomo Lehat and several members of the Tel Aviv City Council were being held hostage by a group of slum-dwellers this afternoon in the Mayor’s office on the 12th floor of the City Hall.
Police and fire brigades rushed to the scenes Police officers were trying to convince the invaders to release the officials and threatened them with jail if they did not.
Lehat had an appointment with the group from the depressed Hatikva quarter. About 40 of them showed up. As soon as they entered his office they pulled hammers, nails and chains from their pockets and proceeded to nail the doors shut and barricade them. Their motive was not clear. The Hatikva residents sang and danced for a time but when the police indicated they took a serious view of the matter, the room became silent.
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