J’lem passes street-naming for Leibowitz

Prof. Leibowitz street-naming had been temporarily rescinded due to protests by right-wing political parties over outspoken ideology.

By DANIEL K. EISENBUD
YESHAYAHU LEIBOWITZ 370 (photo credit: WIkimedia Commons)
YESHAYAHU LEIBOWITZ 370
(photo credit: WIkimedia Commons)
Barely two weeks after the Jerusalem City Council rescinded a street-naming honor for the late Prof. Yeshayahu Leibowitz due to his controversial political leanings, Thursday evening the measure was passed.
Leibowitz, a Jerusalem resident and noted intellectual, was a staunch critic of the IDF, advocated for separation of religion and state, insisted that Israel relinquish territory captured in the 1967 Six Day War and cease settlement construction.
Just moments before approving the measure on April 4, Mayor Nir Barkat said he would temporarily rescind the honor due to protests by various right-wing political parties over Leibowitz’s outspoken ideology.
Barkat subsequently vowed to put the measure to a vote again later in the month, and City Council members finally approved the recommendation during Thursday night’s meeting.
The city will name a street in the Givat Ram neighborhood after Leibowitz.
Leibowitz died in Jerusalem in 1994, at the age of 91. He was a scientist, specializing in biochemistry, and professor at Hebrew University. He also served as editor of the Encyclopaedia Hebraica.
In addition to passing the street-naming, the committee approved the commemoration of Ornan Yekutieli, who died at age 45 in April 2001, while awaiting a heart transplant in the United States.
Yekutieli was a social activist, Jerusalem politician and founder of the NGO Free People.
He served for 15 years on the city council Meretz faction and Jerusalem Now faction, and served as the deputy for former Jerusalem mayor Teddy Kollek between 1993- 1989.