Nir Barkat meets UN Ambassadors
Nir Barkat meets UN AmbassadorsIsrael News photo: Jerusalem Municipality

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, currently on a visit to the United States, gave a lecture earlier this week on the subject of Jerusalem to the UN ambassadors from Hungary, the Czech Republic, Mexico, Columbia, Portugal, Belgium, Romania and the U.S. Deputy Ambassador. The lecture was given during a special lunch hosted by Israeli Ambassador to the UN, Meron Reuven.

During the lecture, Barkat told the ambassadors of his vision for the future of the Israeli capital. He spoke of the city’s plans to reduce the gaps in east Jerusalem, to raise the quality of life of local residents, and spoke of the development plans of new neighborhoods in the area. In addition, Barkat surveyed the reforms he is leading on the way to making Jerusalem a leading tourist destination, while making Jerusalem’s treasures available to the entire world and adjusting the city's infrastructure to better handle an expected rise in tourism.

Barkat’s official visit to the U.S. includes meetings with government officials, fundraising, and meetings with investors and entrepreneurs in order to get them to invest in Israel’s capital.

Insight into Barkat's views can be seen in a talk he recently gave high school students in Jerusalem about his past as an IDF warrior. Barkat told the students about the military operation in Lebanon, in which he was wounded and in which his commanding officer, Muki Knishbach, was killed.

The operation in which Knishbach was killed and Barkat was wounded was the IDF’s “Movil” operation, which took place in 1980. Barkat recalled seeing Knishbach getting hit by gunfire and killed right in front of him.

“Muki was walking in front of me, and all of a sudden I saw a spark under his legs and then a burst of gunfire,” recalled the Mayor. “Muki was hit, flew to the right and was killed instantly. I saw where the spark came from and I began to shoot. I fired one bullet and then my M-16 jammed. I immediately lay down and we had a shootout from a distance of about one and a half to two meters. I took out a grenade and threw it, then I threw a second grenade, and as soon as I saw smoke coming out of the pit I began to storm it. I told the soldiers behind me to follow me, and as soon as I got up and started firing a few bullets and headed towards the building, another burst of gunfire came out of the pit. Like in the movies, I took a bullet and I flew backwards.”

About his commanding officer, Barkat told the students: “He was a man from whom I learned a lot. He was a man who constantly pushed our abilities to the limit and a little bit past them. He was an outstanding figure and through him you understood that there are almost no limits to your ability when you’re a professional, when you’re determined, when you believe in your way and when you have a good team alongside you.”