Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Haredim. The birthrate of religious Jews is higher than that of secular Jews, and the latter have
tended to move out of town. The Haredi community is more united than its secular coun-
terpart, so religious, especially Haredi, political power has grown in the city. Many secular
residents feel that the city is undergoing Haredization, as refl ected by the composition of the
city government. There is no public transportation in Jerusalem on Shabbat, and cars cannot
enter religious neighborhoods on that day. Most businesses and restaurants in Jewish neigh-
borhoods are closed on Shabbat, and most restaurants are kosher.
Contemporary Jerusalem was largely shaped by the almost-three-decade term —1965 to
1993 — of Mayor Teddy Kollek, who helped create many new facilities and gave the city a mod-
ernizing face-lift. The elderly Kollek was fi nally defeated by Ehud Olmert in 1993. A decade
later, Jerusalem elected its fi rst Haredi mayor, Uri Lupolianski. In 2008, the secular business-
man Nir Barkat defeated another Haredi candidate. On a national political level, Jerusalem is
conservative, and a majority of its inhabitants support the Likud Party.
East Jerusalem Arabs have been offered Israeli citizenship, but because of PA pressure and
their support for partition of the city or its assimilation to a Palestinian state, only a minority
have accepted. Still, polls have shown a high proportion of Arab Jerusalemites who wish to
remain under Israeli rule rather than become part of a Palestinian state. All Arab residents are
entitled to vote in municipal elections, but few do so, following the PA boycott to protest the
annexation and unifi cation of the city by Israel. Consequently, since they are not represented
in city hall, they have little political leverage.
Tel Aviv
When Tel Aviv was founded in the sand dunes north of Jaffa in 1909, it became the fi rst Jew-
ish city in the modern world. By the 1930s, it had become larger than Jerusalem and acquired
its own small port. Architects trained in Europe returned to build three- or four-story, fl at-
roofed Bauhaus (International Style) concrete buildings, designed to provide airy, comfortable
living spaces for working-class people. Because of this distinctive housing, Tel Aviv was nick-
named the White City. After Jaffa's capture in the War of Independence, Jaffa was merged with
Tel Aviv.
Not until the 1960s did high-rise construction begin. The fi rst skyscraper built, in 1965, was
the thirty-story Shalom Meir Tower, which rises over 466 feet (142 meters). Since then, the Tel
Aviv area has acquired more skyscrapers, such as the diamond exchange in Ramat Gan and
the three-building Azrieli Towers. Tel Aviv is also the site of the Ministry of Defense, located
there owing to Jerusalem's vulnerability to attack, and almost all foreign embassies. A string
of beaches and high-rise hotels draws tourists as well as locals, especially for strolls along the
promenade (
tayelet
), which extends all the way to Jaffa.
Remarkably, Tel Aviv and the towns around it within commuting distance are the home of
40 percent of all Israelis. Though lacking historical and religious signifi cance like Jerusalem,
Tel Aviv has come to represent the modernity of Israel. Certainly, it is the center of cultural,
intellectual, fi nancial, and much commercial life — the diamond and fashion industries in
particular —with hundreds of cafes and a lively nightlife. The city's cultural assets include
the Helena Rubinstein Pavilion for Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Golda Meir
Center for performing arts, Cameri and HaBima theaters, Mann Auditorium (home of the
