Teddy Kollek

Voters in Jerusalem have brought to an unhappy end the remarkable civic career of Teddy Kollek, mayor of Israel's capital for 28 years and one of the giants of his country's political life. Prodded by Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin into seeking reelection when he would have preferred the tranquillity of retirement, Kollek lost decisively to Ehud Olmert, a stalwart of the conservative Likud Party. Rabin chose to define the election as a test of his peace policy toward Palestinians.

In the late 1950s, when Teddy Kollek took on the challenge of establishing a major art museum in Jerusalem, he might have been whistling in the desert wind. The state of Israel had yet to come of age and Kollek, then director-general of the prime minister's office under David Ben-Gurion, had yet to become mayor of the historic city. Kollek thought his fledgling nation had to have a prestigious showcase for art of high quality and global reach, on par with the best museums in cultural capitals around the world.

Teddy Kollek, the courtly, cigar-chomping mayor who in his 28-year tenure oversaw the reunification of Jerusalem after the 1967 Middle East War and championed coexistence of its Jewish and Arab populations, died Tuesday. He was 95, one of Israel's oldest remaining founding fathers. He died of natural causes at the Jerusalem retirement home where he had lived for several years, said Nomi Yeshua, his assistant at the Jerusalem Foundation.

Amos Kollek said his difficult relationship with his famous father, Teddy Kollek, an important figure in Israeli history and long-time mayor of Jerusalem, was the inspiration for his film "Restless." After Thursday's premiere of the drama about the bitter estrangement of a father and his son at the Berlin Film Festival, the Israeli director said he felt cheated out of having a father even though it seemed everyone else envied him. "I had feelings of anger towards my father," the 60-year-old filmmaker said.

Teddy Kollek, Jerusalem's distinguished mayor, turns 80 this year, but you'd hardly know it watching him in action. At his desk at 7:30 a.m., Teddy--as he is known to one and all--puts in bone-wearying 12- to 14-hour days trying to solve the seemingly unsolvable problems of his unique and bruised city, whose holy places are sacred to Christianity, Judaism and Islam.

Ehud Olmert has long been the pit bull of Israel's right-wing Likud Party, always ready to tear into a political foe, feared for his ability to savage those he sees as compromising the country's interests and known for his skill in back-room deals that left Likud's opponents raging but impotent. "For the things we believe in, above all for the Land of Israel, I will fight, and with all my strength," Olmert said, relishing a reputation earned in his 20 years in politics.

"There's the Mayor ," someone whispered with a tone of respect. Across the lawn at Norman Lear's house, holding court with some of Hollywood's power elite, stood Teddy Kollek, the 82-year-old six-term mayor of Jerusalem, his city's master-builder, symbol of coexistence between Jews and Arabs, and someone who knows about power and infighting.

Mayor Teddy Kollek on Saturday blamed recent statements by President Bush for raising tensions in the city. Both Bush and Secretary of State James A. Baker III said in the last 10 days that Israel's policy of settling Jews in the occupied lands, including Arab East Jerusalem, is an impediment to peace. Kollek called Bush's remarks untimely and unjustified.

Although the issues in Israeli municipal elections scheduled for next Tuesday are local, the vote is seen as a key test of popular satisfaction with the peace accord that Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and his Labor Party signed with the Palestine Liberation Organization in Washington last month. Rabin has been particularly active in Jerusalem.

Jerusalem's Mayor Teddy Kollek said in an interview released Sunday that media reports on violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip are not giving the whole picture. Asked in a West German radio interview to comment on Israeli troops' treatment of Palestinian protesters, Kollek said: "Every one of these occurrences makes me and all of us terribly sorry. But you have to see it in context. . . .

Teddy Kollek, the courtly, cigar-chomping mayor who in his 28-year tenure oversaw the reunification of Jerusalem after the 1967 Middle East War and championed coexistence of its Jewish and Arab populations, died Tuesday. He was 95, one of Israel's oldest remaining founding fathers. He died of natural causes at the Jerusalem retirement home where he had lived for several years, said Nomi Yeshua, his assistant at the Jerusalem Foundation.

Any day now, one of the best-known mayors in the world will pack his pictures, paperweights and collection of teddy bears and end a 28-year run as one of the great builders of this legendary city. With the results of last week's elections officially announced on Thursday, Jerusalem Mayor Teddy Kollek must now vacate his lived-in office in the Jaffa Road municipality building and march into the pages of history.

Voters in Jerusalem have brought to an unhappy end the remarkable civic career of Teddy Kollek, mayor of Israel's capital for 28 years and one of the giants of his country's political life. Prodded by Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin into seeking reelection when he would have preferred the tranquillity of retirement, Kollek lost decisively to Ehud Olmert, a stalwart of the conservative Likud Party. Rabin chose to define the election as a test of his peace policy toward Palestinians.

Teddy Kollek, the mayor of Jerusalem for 28 years, was defeated for reelection Tuesday by a tough critic of Israel's accord with the Palestine Liberation Organization on Palestinian self-government. Kollek, who had seen the election as a referendum on the peace agreement as well as on his policies of coexistence between Jew and Arab, religious and secular, lost decisively to Ehud Olmert, a leader of the right-wing Likud Party.

Although the issues in Israeli municipal elections scheduled for next Tuesday are local, the vote is seen as a key test of popular satisfaction with the peace accord that Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and his Labor Party signed with the Palestine Liberation Organization in Washington last month. Rabin has been particularly active in Jerusalem.

Ehud Olmert has long been the pit bull of Israel's right-wing Likud Party, always ready to tear into a political foe, feared for his ability to savage those he sees as compromising the country's interests and known for his skill in back-room deals that left Likud's opponents raging but impotent. "For the things we believe in, above all for the Land of Israel, I will fight, and with all my strength," Olmert said, relishing a reputation earned in his 20 years in politics.

Jerusalem's Mayor Teddy Kollek said Wednesday that President Bush has written to him promising that the United States supports a united Jerusalem. Jerusalem "must never again be a divided city," Bush wrote in the March 13 letter distributed at a news conference here. Last week, Bush made a statement apparently lumping East Jerusalem, which Israel regards as its sovereign territory, with the West Bank, which is under Israeli military occupation.

Amos Kollek said his difficult relationship with his famous father, Teddy Kollek, an important figure in Israeli history and long-time mayor of Jerusalem, was the inspiration for his film "Restless." After Thursday's premiere of the drama about the bitter estrangement of a father and his son at the Berlin Film Festival, the Israeli director said he felt cheated out of having a father even though it seemed everyone else envied him. "I had feelings of anger towards my father," the 60-year-old filmmaker said.

"There's the Mayor ," someone whispered with a tone of respect. Across the lawn at Norman Lear's house, holding court with some of Hollywood's power elite, stood Teddy Kollek, the 82-year-old six-term mayor of Jerusalem, his city's master-builder, symbol of coexistence between Jews and Arabs, and someone who knows about power and infighting.

"Mr. Jerusalem" for more than a quarter of a century, Mayor Teddy Kollek is now proving to be "Mr. Indispensable." Kollek, who will be 82 in May, had expected to slip into retirement at the end of last year, advising his successor on how to manage his treasured city but slowing his pace after 60 years of helping to build modern Israel.