- Kollek, Teddy
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▪ 2008Theodor Herzl KollekIsraeli politicianborn May 27, 1911 , Nagyvazsony, Austria-Hungary [now in Hungary]died Jan. 2, 2007 , Jerusalem, Israelas the popular and pragmatic Labour Party mayor of Jerusalem for six terms and 28 years (1965–93), transformed the city into a thriving metropolis. Although Kollek supported a unified Jerusalem under Israeli sovereignty, he advocated peaceful coexistence between Jews and Arabs and worked for freedom of religion as well as legal and social benefits for Israel's Arab minority. A committed Zionist, Kollek emigrated in 1935 from Vienna to then British Palestine. He worked for Zionist causes overseas and served (1952–64) as director general of the office of the prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, who encouraged him to run for mayor of Jerusalem. Kollek was awarded the Israel Prize in 1988.
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▪ Israeli politicianbyname of Theodor Herzl Kollekborn May 27, 1911, near Budapest, Austria-Hungary [now in Hungary]died Jan. 2, 2007, Jerusalem, IsraelIsraeli politician, who was mayor of Jerusalem from 1965 to 1993.Kollek, who grew up in Vienna, moved to Palestine in 1934. There he helped found the Ein Gev kibbutz and became active in the Betar Zionist Youth Movement. He also helped organize the clandestine immigration of Jews to Palestine and the rescue of young people from Germany and German-occupied countries during World War II. Kollek was a staff member of the political department of the Jewish Agency, which was closely connected with the work of the underground Jewish paramilitary group, Haganah, and was placed in charge of contacting European Jewish underground movements in 1942. After the war he traveled to the United States, soliciting aid for the Jewish fight for independence. After Israel achieved statehood in 1948, he served as a diplomat to the United States and from 1952 to 1964 was director general of the office of Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion (Ben-Gurion, David).Noted for his energy and enthusiasm, Kollek was elected mayor of Jerusalem in 1965. At the time, the city was divided into Israeli (west Jerusalem) and Jordanian (east Jerusalem) sectors. Seeking to restore the beauty of the holy city, Kollek initiated a clean-up program and oversaw the building of the Israel Museum. Following Israel's success in the Six-Day War of June 1967, he became mayor of united Jerusalem and quickly introduced reforms and improvements in the eastern portion of the city. He strove to unite—physically as well as psychologically—the Arab and Israeli communities within the city. In 1993 Kollek, by then in his eighties, was defeated in his bid for a seventh term as mayor.* * *
Universalium. 2010.
