Yona Yahav in the Walla!/Walla studio
Five years and three months after he lost the mayorship of Haifa to her, Yona Yahav was summoned for the first time to Einat Kalish's office, an office that was his second home during his 15 years in office.
They have not met since October 30, 2018, right after the announcement of his defeat and her winning 55% of the vote.
He left his election headquarters and went home, she refused his offer to pass her an overlap.
A term and something after he was in exile, when he is planning a magnificent comeback that does not fall short of that of the late Tzvika Pick at the time, and the polls predict a non-overwhelming victory for him in the first round, which will probably lead to a second round, the current mayor and the former, and perhaps the future, met to share insights about How to prepare Haifa for a scenario of starting a war against Hezbollah in the north.
Yahav, who gained invaluable experience in the Second Lebanon War, is happy to share it with the Chilba, for the sake of the city he loves so much, and at a time that compliments his campaign.
"She always ignored me," he Says ahead of the elections in a week and a half, which will look completely different this time for him. "Then she called me so that I could explain to her what happened in the Second Lebanon War.
Her assistant sat in the room with an open notebook and wrote down every word.
Do you know that the US Home Front Command sent a representative who worked with me?
Then they published a booklet called 'The Hero from Haifa'."
Yahav
"There is no country in the world that has one economic center"/Courtesy of those photographed, Gavish Media
"During the Second Lebanon War, the municipality borrowed NIS 70 million. If something broke, a building was destroyed, we immediately started building without waiting for property tax."
According to Yahav, "Even before the war broke out, I decided that there would be calm in Haifa. When rockets started firing at us, I was afraid that the residents would flee the city. We are a northern city, and the only way to escape is to the south when the army moves north, which could have created a terrible mess on the roads.
"First of all, I dispersed psychologists in the centers of 106, so that when a citizen calls he will receive a comprehensive response and proper treatment.
I tried to convey that things were under control and that there was no need to run away.
Indeed, the vast majority of residents stayed.
how do i know
Because I am sitting on the edge of the water and the consumption during the war remained the same as before it.
"I sent the municipal treasurer to the banking system and borrowed NIS 70 million. If something breaks, a building is destroyed, I immediately start building and don't wait for property tax. The prime minister at the time was Ehud Olmert, who studied with me at the law faculty, and after the war he agreed to return the money to me.
" We opened kindergartens and schools in the parking lots of the shopping centers.
On the lowest floor we put in equipment, games and seating areas for children, and on the floor above a complex for parents, with movies and lectures.
They asked me to continue with this activity even after the war."
If you are elected, the next war could also fall on your watch.
"I believe with complete faith that the capital of the north will not fall.
We will take the factories out of the Gulf, we will reduce the materials they have to a minimum, we will deploy mobile computers throughout the city, in public places and in schools, and we will teach the children through distance learning or in formats that will be possible and we will introduce interest in the curriculum. And we came prepared."
The Minister of Defense and the Chief of Staff are gearing up for entering the campaign in the very near future. There is a reasonable chance that you will not have time to prepare for all this.
"I will start dealing with it a minute after I am elected.
This time I want to establish a fund of NIS 300 million, funded by the state and donations from abroad, to convey to the residents that things are under control. Follow the statements of the Christians in Lebanon. They are doing everything to ensure that there is no war because they have no interest in it starting and I believe them."
They argue against you that during your 15 years in office you invested in cultural projects instead of protection, therefore the protection gaps in the city are high.
"The claim that I diverted security budgets to culture is stupid because it is impossible to divert hypocritical budgets. I both protected the city and invested in projects for which we won awards. I established the most developed crisis management center in the country, located underground in the area of the old Technion, with the most modern electronic equipment and emergency warehouses I divided the city into ropes, with each of them having a similar small center, and I founded an extensive security patrol, which rope disappeared."
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"She always ignored me"/Official website, photo: Reuven Cohen, Haifa Municipality spokeswoman
He is not a child, Yahav.
79 years old, married plus three children and grandchildren, but full of energy like a 40-year-old. The issue of age has accompanied his campaign since he announced that he is running for mayor again last June.
They called him an "elderly man", published a picture of him in a wheelchair, pulled from the archive things he said condemning the extreme age of the 75-year-old mayor Aryeh Goral, and distributed a fabricated medical report, which he claimed also included a section on "lack of appetite".
"You think Jonah is someone who suffers from a lack of appetite"?
asks Lior, his campaigner.
I have to agree with him on this issue.
You can say all kinds of things about him - except that.
Yahav likes to eat.
In the first radio interview we did, he chewed something in my ear vigorously, until I had no choice but to wish him "bon appetit".
After a problematic term of Kalish, who barely functioned in front of a city council on the other hand and brought the term "inaccessibility" and "ignorance" to heights never seen in Israel, a vacuum was created into which 12 candidates who desire the presidency of Haifa were drawn, and are fighting head-to-head.
Yahav faces, among others, beloved characters such as Yaakov Borovsky and David Etzioni, who are tailing him.
According to the "Maariv" survey, Yahav won 27% of the votes and Tzitoni 17%, not enough for a knock out in the first round, although he is sure it will happen.
Klish, who is running again, barely wins by 5%.
Port of Haifa.
"In all my terms, I have never had opposition. And yes, I will also offer Klish to join"/Erez Michaeli
The loss in the previous elections hurt him.
"When I woke up the next morning my wife said to me: 'I'm starting to organize plans for you to fill the time.'"
were you depressed
"I was surprised. Everywhere in the world we received awards for projects we did. At a conference in Spain I received an award for the underground city project. I did not understand why they turned their backs on me. Then I realized that I did not care at the height of solidarity for the environment. I learned from my mistakes and had a tough teacher. During her period there was a big setback of the city in all kinds of parameters, and I decided that I would start working and repairing to restore Atara to its former glory, because I am a Haifa patriot.
"In these five years, I could only grumble and give advice, but many residents turned to me for advice and to open doors, only to have them closed in my face.
I wanted to, I did mentoring for mayors, including the mayor of Bat Yam."
After two and a half years outside the city hall, and after applying for tenders for public positions and not succeeding in them, he decided to return there. "I went to the 'Open Houses' event in Jerusalem.
The news spread that I was in the crowd and CEOs of government ministries came to talk to me about Haifa. I realized how difficult her situation was and it hurt me. I was born and raised in the city, it is my essence, one city with five religions."
"Awaiting an examination of how we got to the point where we were slaughtered in such a cruel way and why we were closed to any information and happenings around us"/Flash 90, Haim Goldberg
Sitting outside did him good, lowered the level of hubris to a minimum, lengthened the fuse that shortened dramatically at the end of his last term and cleaned the acids that had accumulated in his veins and kept people away from him.
"I will behave modestly, I will listen, listen and learn, even if I don't do everything that is asked of me. I have not always been fully listening. I will be the responsible adult, who brings with him experience. The mayor is young, but what is important is the experience.
"I am stopped on the street by people I am not I know, and they ask for forgiveness for not voting for me, they ask that I succeed.
That is why I am committed that in this term I will make history and give them back what was taken from them.
"I want to establish a Haifa unity government, bring everyone into the coalition, including those who oppose me today. It will include all those who have the good of Haifa at heart. In all my terms, I have never had opposition. And yes, I will also offer Klish to join if you choose."
Wadi Nisnas, Haifa.
"It is forbidden to compare Hamas with the Arabs in Haifa. We are a city of five religions and we manage to live in coexistence here"/Shlomi Gabai
The discussion in the Ekhodo coalition in Haifa brings us back to October 7.
He was at home, just before he left for the synagogue.
"When I saw what was happening, I got such a shock. The head of the bureau in the municipality is from Bari. I called him and asked what was happening, and he said he was with his wife and children at the MMD.
His family members were injured in the incident in the dining room.
"For the past decade, I have been constantly warning the south and the north that we are not channeling the investments they deserve, but are concentrating only in the center of the country. There is no country in the world that is concentrated in one economic center. And I say it here - the metropolis of Haifa will determine the future of the State of Israel. We Objects of life, we established a glorious country in no time and we are obliged to take care of it. When I saw the younger generation being recruited for the mission, and coming here from all corners of the world, I was amazed. The feeling of home lies deep in our hearts
. Sealed to all information and happenings around us.
Our big mistake is that we are not bilingual.
We do not speak Arabic and do not understand them and their culture.
I introduced mandatory spoken Arabic studies from the second grade."
After October 7, people have no desire to speak Arabic. Hasn't your trust in the Arabs been broken?
"In Haifa, these things do not exist and my trust in the Arabs has not diminished.
We are the problem.
We don't know how to talk and behave with them."
Hamas kidnapped and killed peace-loving residents of Otef, who brought children from Gaza for treatment in Israel.
"Don't compare Hamas with the Arabs in Haifa.
We are a city of five religions and we manage to live in coexistence here.
It started with the first mayor who was Muslim and his son married a Jewess.
I am not ready to lose faith in the Arabs and we must form a partnership.
I had a friend in Bari who founded 'Women for Peace', half of Gaza were her friends, and they burned her.
In Haifa it is a completely different story.
As I said, we will establish a unity government here in the city, because there is no choice."
And because the state is not really functioning. There is no choice.
"The citizen does not know the ministers and the prime minister. The only politician he knows is the mayor. The local government should be structured in such a way that it can help To the ordinary citizen. I will be the representative before the government. I have worked well with all governments and I will also work with the current government."
You participated in demonstrations against her.
"We were at the protests against the legal reform because I am a lawyer and I deeply understand what they wanted to do.
Why don't all parties sit together and find the trap?
I don't believe anyone will take revenge on me for this.
I never went against Netanyahu, I always found a way to talk to everyone."
Will you win in the first round?
"Yes.
And if we have to do a second round, we will win it.
In any case, I only come for one term.
correction term".
More on the same topic:
Yona Yahav
Haifa
Arabs
Coexistence
Einat Kalish Rotem
War of Iron Swords
Gaza war
local elections
Arabic