"Traffic jams? I believe that Jerusalem will be the first city in Israel to get out of it" | Israel today

"Jerusalem will be the first city in Israel to get out of traffic jams," says Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Leon in a special interview with "Israel Today", and it seems that he has good reasons to believe this.

The new Route 16 opened a few days ago, and already eases the congestion at the entrance to the city and within it, although the real test will be after the holidays.

Jerusalem is already the first city in Israel to have a light rail, and another section of it will soon be opened.

The municipality has high hopes for the opening of the additional line, the green line, which will open in 2024. This line will be the longest in the city, and the goal is to enable efficient and accessible public transportation for all residents.

On his 61st birthday Leon declares that he will run for another term next year.

He does not get into sensitive political issues, such as core studies or public transportation on Shabbat, and he believes that thanks to the massive construction in the city, Jerusalem will become not only the center of Israeli high-tech, but also "a magnet for all Israeli populations."

The mayor talks about the progress in the plan to establish new employment offices designed, among other things, to attract high-tech companies to the city, the new entrance district to Jerusalem.

The new district is expected to be among the largest in the country and will include 1.2 million square meters for employment in 20 towers of up to 40 stories that will be used for public buildings as well as commerce and hotels.

"The companies want to come"

The entrance complex to the city - a very ambitious project designed to create a kind of city for the city, but are there already companies that want to come?

"Obviously. I know very large companies that want to come to Jerusalem, and right now they can't because they don't have a suitable place. As soon as we finish building the towers, both at the entrance to the city and on Givat Ram, where a large part has already been leased, Jerusalem will be in a completely different place in terms of employment and Economically, we are already there.

"Whoever passes by the entrance to the city sees the towers. On Givat Ram, in Mount Hatzim, you can see the accelerated construction of several employment buildings. In total, we are talking about an addition of more than one and a half million meters of employment. I imagine that within three years we will see very tall towers of employment, and they too will be settled."

Meanwhile, even government offices are in no hurry to move to Jerusalem, despite government decisions on the matter.

"The Ministry of Finance works in cooperation with us. Once a month we have a meeting with those responsible for the construction of the government offices in Jerusalem. Some are going slower, some are going faster, but I have no doubt that the government offices are on their way back to Jerusalem. Part of the issue is also construction that we are currently carrying out For example, you can see the Ministry of Justice, which is in front of the Prime Minister's Office. There are Ministry of Interior towers being built on Jaffa Street, and we are on the way to building more buildings."

For those who currently work in the government building, there is not a single cafe or restaurant in this entire complex, which is visited by thousands of workers a day.

"You're right, we're definitely taking care of it now. For example, in the Rose Garden, which is in front of the Knesset, we're building a restaurant complex that will work all day and night. In Robin, we intend to add more restaurants and food trucks. We're definitely on our way there, we're doing it, a little patience and we'll finish the This".

The beer grant - last time you received a billion shekels from the treasury.

Why does Jerusalem deserve such a large amount?

"First of all, Jerusalem is a city where a million residents live, among whom a large number are exempt from property tax payments, and there are also public institutions that are exempt. The grant should cover these exemptions that are granted by law. In the coming years, in five years, we intend to reduce the amount of The capital grant. The more we build employment spaces and the more apartments we build, we can begin to decrease the level of the balance grant."

"Revolution in the city".

The light rail in Jerusalem, photo: Oren Ben Hakon

Thanks to the light rail

Highway 16 was recently opened - is there already a relief in traffic jams?

How did he change the face of the city?

"He unequivocally helped the residents of the city to enter and leave the city, as well as those who do not live there during the day. There is no doubt that today the entrance is much emptier than before the opening. In fact, we spread the people entering and leaving the city from one entrance to two entrances and this definitely helps. That we will finish the light rail projects that are right in the middle, the line to Hadassah Hospital will open in the coming months, and another line will open in a year, we will be the first to get out of the traffic jams.

"We are building a lot on the use of public transportation for mass transportation, and the light rail occupies a very large part of that, and since we are there at the height of the action, so I very much hope that the issue of traffic jams will drop from the agenda in the future - when we open the green line and the blue line of the light rail."

Let's talk about the changing demographics of the city - the young couples from the general sector seem to be fleeing it.

"I think we are in the midst of a revolution in everything related to demographics."

Although Jerusalem is a different city, there is also a significant secular population there, and there are no places for recreation or transportation on Shabbat - do you believe that this can change?

"There will be no public transportation on Shabbat in Jerusalem because there is a status quo that there is no public transportation on Shabbat. Regarding places of entertainment - overall it is not that they are forbidden to open, everyone does what they think - the market is open.

This is according to the law."

"Here too we are in a very serious revolution, we are currently building hundreds of new classrooms in the east of the city, with the aim of giving the opportunity to transfer the education to the Israeli high school diplomas, which are at a higher level. We get two benefits from this issue - also a higher level of the material taught which will allow the students to continue to educational institutions is high in Israel, and of course also in terms of dealing with terrible incendiary materials that are currently found in the teaching materials. We are in the midst of a revolution on this issue in both of these things, and every school we open has a very high demand from the residents of the eastern part of the city. Parents appreciate a high level and want their children to learn at a high level." .

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"The tall buildings you see there are certainly not from my time. We do everything to prevent illegal construction, but to prevent illegal construction we also have to take care of the existing residents. And here we take care of the residents through urban renewal programs like the ones that exist in the west of the city in Elef, We are definitely making sure to also do urban renewal in the east of the city. There is already one very significant plan that has passed in the Jebel Mukaber area, and we intend to expand the urban renewal."

"Anyone who wants to study core studies, can study in Jerusalem and I certainly leave it open to the parents' decision what to study, in which educational institutions to study, but I can tell you that the dispersion of the educational institutions in Jerusalem, both in the ultra-Orthodox sector and in the secular and religious Zionist sectors is very large And everyone can choose what they want."

The Jerusalem Law was approved in preliminary reading // Photo: Ziv Koren // The Jerusalem Law was approved in preliminary reading // Photo: Ziv Koren,

You avoid meddling with the political-security situation in the city, does that prove itself?

"I don't know what prevented it. In everything related to the security of the city's residents, I am very, very involved. For example, now during the holidays, I am very involved in meetings regarding the security of the city's residents as well as its visitors. We have a very strong relationship with the security forces and the Israel Police. Everyone Does his job, but definitely in the end I am the mayor, and I am also responsible for these issues."

"Yes, absolutely".

"My vision is that this city will be a magnet for all the populations that exist in the State of Israel, and that people will simply want to live there, enjoy it, be employed at a high level, and we are definitely on our way there."

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