Palestine Jews Claim to Share in War Effort, March 17, 1944
Mr. Theodore Kollek, a member of the delegation of leaders of Palestine Jewry at present in this country [the UK] to report on Palestine's part in the Empire war effort and the recent developments in the Jewish national home, addressed a meeting of members of the Manchester and Salford pro-Palestine Committee yesterday.
At the beginning of the war, he said, 130,000 young Jews and Jewesses immediately volunteered to join the British armed forces out of a total Jewish population of under half a million. But the policy of appeasement of the Empire's enemies survived longer in regard to Palestine than it did elsewhere and their services were not accepted; only under the pressure of circumstances had about ten thousand young men been allowed to enlist, a thousand seasoned motor-drivers to help in Libya and Abyssinia, 1,700 skilled tradesmen to swell the R.A.F. ground staff, and so on.
"There is still time to arm our people by permitting them to join the British armies in the Near East," said Mr. Kollek. "It is said that this might be politically unwise and might be distorted by enemy propaganda, but everything Britain does and has done in the Arab world is distorted in this way."
(This is one of the first references to Kollek in the pages of the Post)
Kollek Explains What New Tourism Body Plans to Do, September 5, 1955
The need to educate the average citizen to be more helpful and courteous to tourists was emphasized by Mr. T. Kollek, Director-General of the Prime Minister's office... Mr. Kollek, who was speaking for the first time in his new capacity... suggested some ways to increase the average visitor's interest in the country. Not only should archeological sites be preserved, but scenes of battles of the War of Independence could be of considerable interest, such as the Kastel and Sha'ar Hagai. He reemphasized the need to create contact between Israelis and tourists, by tourists being invited to private homes, in the way Allied soldiers were received early in World War II. More emphasis should be put on "Israel, the Country of Sunshine," rather than on "Israel, Land of the Bible," which Mr. Kollek thought was a little overdone.
One of the problems of the tourist industry in Israel was the lack of night life, he continued. After sunset, the tourist was at a loss to find somewhere to go in Jerusalem, and it was only a little better in other places in Israel.
The Affluent Society, July 17, 1961
Among the doubtful glories of modern civilization due to arrive any year in Israel is television. Somewhat surprisingly, Teddy Kollek has his doubts about it, and says that he would not be altogether unhappy if he believed that it was possible to keep it out forever. But he knows that it is certain to come and that there are already people in Israel who tune in to Beirut and Cairo.
Running for Jerusalem, October 15, 1965
Theodore Teddy Kollek (this is the way his name appears in "Who's Who in Israel"), born in Vienna in 1911 and in this country since 1934, is running proudly for Mayor of the Capital on his reputation as a man who gets things done, a technocrat; an appellation which he shares with several other of Ben Gurion's "Young Men" and which was not assigned to them by their friends or intended as a compliment.
He believes that Mayor Ish-Shalom and the members of his administration are well-intentioned and mostly even hard-working men and women. Their main trouble, he believes, is that they lack wings, vision, imagination, and dynamism. And the members of the Municipal bureaucracy, too, are not basically corrupt or lazy; it is simply that the lethargic manner of the administration has undermined their morale and espirit de corps; they have no interest in their jobs. "People have to be inspired," he declares.
Is Jerusalem Mayor
entitled to a private life?, May 22, 1967
The Jerusalem Municipal Council chamber was last night the arena for a short but sharp debate on whether the Mayor "belongs" completely to the public or whether he is also entitled to a "private conscience.' Mr. S.Z. Druck, Agudat Yisrael Opposition Councillor, wanted to know whether it was true that Mayor Teddy Kollek "publicly desecrated the Sabbath by driving on that day... something no previous Mayor of Jerusalem has done, in deference to the feelings of a large part of the city's population."
Mr. Kollek: I consider this to be a purely personal matter and I will not reply to your question."
Mr. Druck: "A Mayor has no private life. Everything he does reflects on his city, and he is responsible to his city."
Mr Kollek (furiously): "I repeat: this is a matter of my private conscience. Only I will decide what I shall do or not do on the Sabbath!"
Earlier Mr. Druck, who loses no opportunity to needle Mr. Kollek, especially in matters that are likely to embarrass the Mayor's National Religious Party and Agudat Yisrael Coalition partners, also asked whether it was true that Mr. Kollek, during a recent Friday night Vocal Newspaper, had written notes. Mr. Kollek replied calmly that it was true that he had taken out his pen. However, someone had reminded him that it was Sabbath Eve, and he had apologized and put the pen back in his pocket.
Mayor Tours Jerusalem
as Clash Goes On, June 6, 1967
Mayor Teddy Kollek, who had given the Capital a new motto in his declaration, "We shall not be conquered," was concerned about how his citizens were faring in the border areas, and he left his office for an inspection tour.
On the way we called at the Israel Museum, and as we approached we could see several of its big windows shattered, and the stench of cordite still hung in the air. But within the big strong doors, the men and women working there told the Mayor that the glass had been shattered by mortars.
The Dead Sea Scrolls were safe, deep in the repository built for them. "This morning I felt something might happen, so I told them to lower them into their shelter," the Mayor said.
