Teddy Kollek: One of Israel’s founders dies

Teddy Kollek is the man who made Jerusalem the city it is today.

“Teddy was Jerusalem and Jerusalem was Teddy,” Mayor Uri Lupolianski said Tuesday. “With his spirit and personality he symbolized the true unified Jerusalem, the capital of Israel. The city of Jerusalem and the entire state are indebted to Teddy for his tremendous contribution to the people of Israel, the state and its capital.”

The state of Jerusalem today can be credited almost exclusively to Teddy, who was defeated by Olmert after six terms as mayor of Jerusalem. Too bad Teddy wasn’t Sharon’s pick instead.

Within days of the end of the 1967 Six-Day War, Kollek ordered the stone wall which had divided Jerusalem to be torn down. He worked energetically to win the respect, if not always the affection, of the Palestinian population in East Jerusalem. He left no doubt that he wanted Jerusalem to remain undivided under Israeli sovereignty, despite Palestinian demands that East Jerusalem be the capital of a future state.

Kollek was also admired for his efforts to balance the needs and demands of secular Jews and the city’s ultra-orthodox Jewish community. He promoted special housing projects for the ultra-Orthodox, locating them far from main roads to distance them from Sabbath traffic.

He fought attempts by zealous Jews to move into the Muslim quarter of the walled Old City, but defended the practice of developing Jewish suburbs around the eastern Arab sector to prevent it from ever escaping Israel’s rule.

Kollek aides later admitted that during his decades in office, the city’s master plan was aimed at preserving the population balance at 28 percent Arabs and 72 percent Jews. To solidify Israel’s hold over the eastern sector of the city, Kollek presided over the construction of nine Jewish neighborhoods, moving 160,000 Jews into the area.

Teddy’s name will long be remembered, and his work can be seen every time you look at a picture of Jerusalem.