02 January 2006
Teddy Kollek, who served as mayor of Jerusalem for nearly three decades, has died at the age of 95. Kollek was elected in 1965 and was mayor when Israel captured east Jerusalem, home to the city's Arab population and Jewish, Christian and Muslim holy sites, in the 1967 Six Day War. He spent most of his career trying to balance the needs of the city's diverse religious and interest groups. He also led a major building effort, adding new neighborhoods, parks and highways. "Jerusalem's people of differing faiths, cultures and aspirations must find peaceful ways to live together other than by drawing a line in the sand," Kollek once wrote. After 28 years in office, Kollek was defeated in his seventh bid for mayor in 1993 by Ehud Olmert, who went on to become Israel's current prime minister. Olmert's campaign targeted his health and advanced age but steered clear of attacking the popular figure. Born in 1911 in Hungary and raised in Vienna, Kollek came to British-mandate Palestine in 1935. He helped buy up weapons illicitly for Israel's 1948 independence war. After the State of Israel was founded, he developed his political skills from 1952 to 1964 as chief aide to Israel's first prime minister, David Ben Gurion.
