More than a decade after moving from Givatayim to Jerusalem, Mayor Moshe Lion not only won the 2018 election over a young and popular Jerusalem native, Hitorerut’s Ofer Berkovitch, but now having completed half his tenure, is even quite popular.
What lies behind this change in the attitude of so many Jerusalemites toward the candidate many considered a foreign element in the capital? Is he really a good mayor, as many maintain, or is it just the fatigue of a population trying to survive the traffic, roadwork, heat and pandemic?
Lion believes that a warm word here and a smile there are the best tools to get results in one of the most complicated cities in the world. Having said that, this side of Lion – the smiles, the calm, the perpetual quiet approach instead of assertive public statements – are exactly what even some of his supporters criticize.
“It’s not that we do not appreciate his good manners,” asserts German Colony resident Mordechai Avraham, an opponent of the light rail’s Blue Line segment on Emek Refaim Street. “It’s just that we found out, after we supported him for the 2018 election, that he is not reliable. He misled us regarding the issue of the path on this street.”
In one particular case, this “style” raised anger on several sides, and according to many, may have expanded the magnitude of the riots during the Ramadan period, following the Jerusalem Police’s decision to forbid Arab residents from gathering at Damascus Gate. Lion has explained that in this particular case, he didn’t think it was his prerogative to interfere in the police chief’s decisions, but added that he did attempt – and eventually succeeded – in convincing him to remove the fences. The critics said it was too late; it was one of those cases when an assertive mayoral position was required but absent.
“During the first weeks of the coronavirus,” says Amit, a resident of Beit Hakerem in her late 30s who caught the virus then, “it was clear Lion couldn’t or didn’t know how to restrain his haredi coalition partners. The synagogues still operated, the yeshivot, the weddings… I was told later that he did try to do a lot quietly. Perhaps he did, perhaps it even helped, but sometimes, someone who holds the helm has to say loud and clear what is unacceptable. The fact is that he didn’t.
“I guess it’s because he depends on them for his coalition, but it is still unacceptable.”
ABOUT A year after taking office, Lion made a decision that has had a dramatic impact on the lives of the Jerusalemites. Instead of approving the list of construction on roads, infrastructure and light rail lines one at a time, Lion decided to launch them all together.
“It will be hard, but it will end within four years at most, instead of working each time in another part of the city,” he explained to this journalist in 2019. This call by Lion, which has turned the city into a huge construction site, will conveniently end the year of the next mayoral election (in November 2023). Having already announced his intention to run again, Lion will then enjoy an advantage over any eventual opponent.
One of Lion’s achievements is improving conditions in the Arab sector, even beyond the scope of the project to invest in infrastructure approved by the government in 2018, before he was elected. In one case, Lion showed up at the hospital to visit a Palestinian child from Isawiya who lost an eye following a mistaken shooting by Border Police. He pledged to follow up on the family (which he does) and expressed a genuine sympathy for the little boy – something no mayor had ever done before him.
Beit Hanina resident Shaban says this mayor has been a pleasant surprise thus far.
“The Old City and most of the Arab neighborhoods are cleaner than ever. The roads, the streetlights – all these have improved. Yet we have few – if any – parking lots in our side, and this administration is not doing anything in that regard. Also, we are the only city in the country where disabled persons who use city parking (at Safra Square) have to pay. So there is still work to do.”
However, on the most critical issue concerning Arab residents – construction permits – Lion hasn’t yet managed to improve the situation, and illegal construction, followed by demolition orders, continues as before.
ANAT MUFKADI, recently elected co-chairwoman for the Baka local council, says Lion loves the city and its residents. “He listens to residents and cares about petty as well as significant issues, and that augurs well for the future.”
Coalition member Dr. Laura Wharton (Meretz) says that Lion came to Safra Square to work, and he does work hard.
“Part of the changes we already see – like sanitation – but there are also disappointments, like his lack of intervention in the Reches Lavan (White Ridge) construction project, and the unequal distribution of resources. He doesn’t have a list at the council, but as a representative of secular residents, I can say he’s trying hard to serve us too.”
“The most important thing about Lion’s attitude is that his vision is simple,” notes Hagai Agmon-Snir, until recently director of the Jerusalem Intercultural Center. “Lion says, ‘We have a city, there are residents and tourists in it, we need to take care of all of them; let’s do it.’ This is exactly what we needed after so many years in which the mayor [Nir Barkat] was busy in national and global politics.”
Deputy Mayor Arieh King, representing the right wing at the council, gives Lion a solid score of 8.5 out of 10.
Asked recently if he is already working on building a list that will support him at the next city council if he is indeed reelected – to avoid the current situation in which he is mayor without even one representative – Lion answered that he doesn’t even think about that. He believes that he will be reelected easily, thanks to his hard work for Jerusalem.
Time will tell – less than 28 months from now until November 2023.