Kollek, Theodore (Teddy)

(1911-2007)

   Long-time mayor of Jerusalem (1965-93). Born in Vienna, he early on became involved in Zionism. He settled in Palestine in 1934 and was one of the founders of Kibbutz Ein Gev. From 1940 to 1947, he served on the staff of the political department of the Jewish Agency. After Israel's independence, he became the number-2 official in Israel's embassy in Washington. He served as director general of the prime minister's office from 1952 to 1964. Affiliated with Mapai, he followed David Ben-Gurion when he left the party and founded Rafi. At the head of the Rafi ticket, he was elected mayor of Jerusalem in 1965.

   When Jerusalem was reunited as a consequence of the Six-Day War (1967), it posed a particular challenge to the mayor, who had to extend the services of the city to East Jerusalem and was now mayor of the entire city. He led the One Jerusalem Party, a loose coalition of Labor Party members and personal supporters of Kollek that established control of Jerusalem's city council in 1978. Kollek remained mayor of Jerusalem until November 1993, when he was defeated by Likud candidate Ehud Olmert. During his long tenure, Kollek established the Jerusalem Fund, which raises international charitable funds to help maintain the city's institutions and alleviate social and economic inequities among its diverse population. Kollek died on 2 January 2007.