Ron Huldai

Ron Huldai was elected Mayor of Tel Aviv-Yafo in 1998. To achieve his foremost goal of maintaining the city as a bastion of tolerance, acceptance and democracy, he has actively promoted policies to enhance quality of life for its diverse population. These include: ensuring affirmative action for the municipality’s minority employees; establishing a municipal center for the LGBTQ community; building and funding special education facilities to serve children from all over the country; upgrading services to Holocaust survivors; providing extensive welfare programs; and more. Under his leadership, Tel Aviv-Yafo has become a major center of culture, high tech and business development, education, social welfare and environmental responsibility. As “the Startup City of the Startup Nation,” the city is the global leader in technological startups per capita, with the world’s highest density of accelerators, several top-ranking research universities and R&D centers for global enterprises. Mayor Huldai has emphasized returning the public sphere to the residents, with the creation of over 120 kilometers of bike trails, 14 kilometers of beachfront boardwalk and several new parks. He instituted an ongoing program to renovate the city’s numerous historical assets, which were internationally recognized in 2003 when UNESCO proclaimed Tel Aviv-Yafo a World Heritage Site. In 2014, UNESCO named Tel Aviv a Creative City for its excellence in digital media activity. As a global city, Tel Aviv-Yafo is part of many international networks including C40; OECD’s Inclusive Growth; the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact; and U20.