Secular high tech millionaire Nir Barkat, who defeated hareidi religious Meir Porush Tuesday night to become the ninth mayor of Jerusalem, envisions 10 million tourists and 150,000 new jobs within the decade.
In an interview in perfect English several weeks ago with IsraelNationalNews radio, he described his plan to make Jerusalem an international city with economic prosperity, more housing for students and increased tourism.
(can't see player? click here)
Barkat said that there is no reason the capital cannot compete with New York and Paris, which draw 40 million tourists a year compared with two million for Jerusalem. He explained that mroe tourism will create more jobs, which along with more housing will keep people from leaving.
Cleaning up the city and improving the city's transportation system also are part of his program.
Barkat defeated hareidi religious Meir Porush Tuesday night to become the ninth mayor of Jerusalem. He succeeds Mayor Uri Lupolianski, the capital's first hareidi orthodox mayor who was elected in 2003 and succeeded Ehud Olmert, now the outgoing Prime Minister. Prior to Olmert, Teddy Kollek ruled the city since 1965.
Barkat's victory returns the city to secular hands, but he won wide support from national religious Jews and even from part of the hareidi religious community that did not want to see Porush, from the Vishnitz community, in power. Knesset Member Avigdor Lieberman, head of Israel Is Our Home (Yisrael Beiteinu), also endorsed Barkat.
He vowed to fight to retain Jerusalem as Israel's undivided capital and specifically condemned Olmert for his plan to give away most if not all of eastern Jerusalem to the Palestinian Authority. Several national religious leaders reasoned that Barkat's secular image would give him a better position than Porush in the fight to retain Jerusalem's status.
His predecessor Lupolianski was involved in the community for years and founded the Yad Sarah organization to help the elderly and disabled, but he has been accused of favoring his own religious community. Porush offended many voters by his campaign statement that large hareidi religious community in Israeli cities soon will be in power because of their high birthrate.
Barkat won the contest by 10 percent, and he and Porush left Russian-born billionaire Arcadi Gaydamak with less than four percent of the vote.
The new mayor was born in 1959. Like Lupolianski, he served in the army. He left the IDF after serving for six years and reaching the rank of major in the paratrooper's brigade.
Following university, he founded the BRM company that developed anti-virus software and turned it into an engine that helped Checkpoint and other companies get off the ground. Barkat served as chairman of Checkpoint for four years, and his BRM Capital venture fund was worth $150 million. He quit business in 2003 to devote his time to politics and was elected to the city council.
His non-profit New Spirit program is designed to help students in Jerusalem, and he is a strong proponent of pluralism.