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Monday, February 12, 2007
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Jerusalem’s Master Builder
THEODOR HERZL KOLLEK (1911 – 2007) With Teddy Kollek’s death, the nation lost one
of its last symbols of Israel’s founding. He built modern-day Jerusalem.
Teddy Kollek, the legendary former mayor of Jerusalem who led one of the world’s
most complicated cities for nearly three decades and cemented it as Israel’s united
and eternal capital, died at the age of 95.
“For him Jerusalem was everything,” said Alan Freeman of the Jerusalem Foundation,
who worked alongside the mayor for many years. “He cared—not just cared—but cared
extraordinarily deeply about the city. He cared about the person in the street,
but he also cared about art and culture and the greening of the city.”
Kollek defined the character of the city with theaters and parks, neighborhoods
and museums, enforcing a code requiring that all buildings be faced with Jerusalem
stone. He was described as Jerusalem’s greatest builder since King Herod, yet he
was modest and accessible. He liked to be called Teddy by all and walked the streets
without a bodyguard.
“His number was listed in the phone book,” Freeman said. “People would call him
day or night and he would listen to their problems. If they left a message, he would
call them back!”
Kollek was elected in 1965 and was mayor when Israel captured Jerusalem’s historic
Old City during the Six Day War in 1967. He suddenly found himself in a position
of destiny. Within days of the end of the war, Kollek ordered the stone wall that
divided Jerusalem to be torn down. Years later, he would say: “We proved that Jerusalem
is a better city united than divided.”
In a city famed for its disputes, Kollek maintained a delicate status quo. He promoted
coexistence between Israelis and Arabs, kept the peace between religious and secular
Jews, and sought to improve ties between Israel and the Christian community.
(More in israel today from February 2007)
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