Jerusalem Day 2022 - Mayor Moshe Leon in a special interview

On the occasion of Jerusalem Day, Mayor Moshe Leon is hosted on the podcast "The Local Arena" for a conversation with Yael Pardison.

About the most beautiful and explosive city in the world, open places on Shabbat for the secular, the situation in the east of the city, the tense security situation, its political plans and its favorite place in Jerusalem

Yael Friedson

19/05/2022

Thursday, 19 May 2022, 13:14 Updated: 13:47

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In recent days there is a feeling that we are rebroadcast last year, before Operation The Wall Guard.

As mayor what can you do?

"I do not have the matter I say about it after the Ministry of Housing, about the police. I am in everything, even if it is a government office I take care to talk to him. Let's talk about the east of the city in general, for me it is decades of neglect. Israel, to unite Jerusalem, it united it but did not invest in it. Huge gaps were created between the east of the city and the west of the city. The city was part of the cleanup reform

I from the first moment I took office I saw myself as the mayor of East City and have to take care of all the issues I mentioned, road infrastructure and education.

Education is a scandal that when I took office, 95 percent of East City students, 55 years after we liberated the city and united it are still studying the Palestinian curriculum, The Taojihi.

Low level of education, Taojihi graduates are not accepted to universities, two is incitement.

I do not see East Jerusalem as riots or no riots in order for mine to be quiet.

I see East Jerusalem as 350,000 residents I want them to have something to lose when they make these riots.

Just as in the west of the city think twice before some commotion, so in the east of the city they knew what they had to lose.

Therefore the issue of education and it is not the residents of the east of the city move to the west of the city and see this as a level of national care.

Moshe Leon, Mayor of Jerusalem at Podxat Local Arena (Photo: Official Website, Photo - Roni Knafo)

You've seen the hard pictures from the press funeral, what do you think of it?

I'm not in the business of criticizing the police, I have no knowledge of policing and I'm certainly not one of those who do investigations.

I can only tell you that I am in constant contact with the police and the security forces to see what happens. Such an event last Friday is an event that should not happen, but on this issue whoever needs to do an investigation will do an investigation.

Let's tell the truth, I'm not jealous of those It's not easy, it's not black and white. So you have to check what was there in the decision-making process that was there and act accordingly.

One thing I can tell you, at four-thirty in the afternoon, on Friday, when the videos arrived The handling of the flags, which lowered the flags of the State of Israel, was very annoying to me. I called the CEO and asked them to return the flags by Saturday, it was very important to me that the flags, which are our national pride, be returned immediately.

"Shabbat, first of all if there is no Shabbat problem, this is not Jerusalem. Jerusalem has always known disagreements about Shabbat and for that purpose the situation has arisen regarding the status quo that says come stop how we behave today. Do not aggravate and do not make it easy. There is a pool that is supposed to open in the coming months in Homat Shmuel, for which the community manager says it will not be open on Saturday, the issue is being addressed, and is not yet finalized. It is in discussions.

"I love the seculars Of thing we want a status quo.

There is nothing like this city.

There are also secularists and ultra-Orthodox people all living and working together, there is no doubt that secularists have a big place.

I definitely see myself as representing the secular. "

Moshe Leon and Yael Pardison in the local arena podcast (Photo: Official website, Photo - Roni Kanfo)

The political bacterium does not tickle you?

"There is no similar role for the mayor of Jerusalem. I did not start my life in politics. I was a businessman, an accountant who succeeded, I was very fascinated. I knew exactly what I wanted. It might have looked like that at first who he is and what he wants, I knew exactly What do I want? I got five precious years, the first I did not win, and when I took the job I knew exactly what I wanted to do. Because I have a lot more to do in the city and further promote it "

I have no doubt that it is less than ten years, in three or five years Jerusalem will ascend huge stairs.

Employment towers at the entrance to the city, in Givat Shaul, Har Hatzvim, hujitec in Givat Ram, 300,000 square meters of premium high-tech employment, light rail works, thousands of housing units, I think we will see Jerusalem in a very leading place in the State of Israel

It's places, depending on when.

Unfortunately, I do not complain because I chose it, but there is not much time to enjoy this role, but there are definitely moments that come out of the head of the role.

First of all, the Mahane Yehuda market, beyond the love between me and the merchants, is the beating heart of Jerusalem.

East of the city, I really like to walk around, the Old City Market I walk from there to the Western Wall almost every Saturday, even Mishkenot Sha'ananim the whole area there is beautiful.

There is nothing like Jerusalem.

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• Moshe Leon

• Jerusalem

• Jerusalem Day