Long-standing Jerusalem mayor dies aged 95

The former mayor of Jerusalem, Teddy Kollek, has died at the age of 95. Kollek grew up in Vienna but emigrated with his family to what was then Palestine before the Nazis annexed Austria. First elected mayor of Jerusalem in 1965, he ruled the city for nearly three decades before losing to current Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in 1993. Kollek, who helped turn Jerusalem into a modern city, was widely seen as a moderate in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Many of his efforts went towards bridging the gaps between the different ethnic and religious populations by recognizing the Arab sector’s needs and respecting the religious values of the ultra-Orthodox community.

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