By José Galicot
TIJUANA, Mexico — As fate would have it, many years ago, I had the opportunity to meet the new mayor of Tel Aviv, who was making his debut as the fourth municipal president of a very active city that, like Tijuana and New York, never sleeps and is full of hard-working and dynamic people who have come from all over the world to settle there. The city of Tel Aviv is on the Mediterranean coast of Israel. It is the second largest city in the country, after Jerusalem, and is known for being a vibrant and cosmopolitan city with cultural and commercial wealth and tourist activities.
Tel Aviv is known for its modernist architecture, with many buildings designed in the Bauhaus style from the 1930s. It is also famous for its beaches, nightlife and cuisine.
My friend Ron Huldai is the mayor of Tel Aviv. Born in 1944, Huldai is a former Israeli Air Force pilot who was elected mayor in 1998, the year I met him. He has since been re-elected five times and has played an important role in the city’s development.
Huldai has carried out several giant projects in Tel Aviv during his tenure, including revitalizing the city’s port and building new infrastructure and public spaces. He has also worked to improve the city’s public transportation and reduce traffic congestion—both comparable problems of Tijuana.
In addition, Huldai has been an advocate for culture and the arts and has supported the development of events and festivals in the city. He has also worked to promote equality and inclusion, making Tel Aviv a friendly town for the LGBTQ+ community.
I have brought Ron Huldai to Tijuana on three occasions, where he presented conferences as part of Tijuana Innovadora. I have a couple of stories from his visits to share with you, my dear reader:
1.- In 2019, he received the World Mayor Prize, which recognizes mayors who have shown leadership and excellence in city management. During his acceptance speech, Huldai spoke about his vision of Tel Aviv as an inclusive and welcoming city for all its inhabitants and highlighted its role as a cultural and technological center. The award is in recognition of Huldai’s work to improve the quality of life for Tel Aviv residents and his leadership in promoting the city internationally. At the time, my friend Marcelo Ebrard, a significant politician in Mexico who has been a speaker at Tijuana Innovadora, received this same award.
2.- In 2016, after a series of terrorist attacks in Tel Aviv, Ron Huldai spoke at a press conference in which he defended the importance of moving forward with daily life in the city and not allowing terrorism to paralyze daily activity. Huldai said, “Terrorists want to scare us. They want to demoralize us and make us feel insecure. We cannot allow that to happen. We have to continue with our lives, with our work, with our entertainment, with our culture.” His speech resonated throughout the city, and many residents quoted him as an example of leadership in difficult times.
I promise you, my dear reader, that the next time Ron Huldai comes, we will invite him to Villa Saverios and hold a conference at a theatre so you can meet him.
Since he has won six elections, when I asked him what his reelection campaign project was going to be, he literally told me: “Nothing. The people of my city know me, they know the way I am, they know what I can do, and they can elect me or not based on what they know about me.”
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José Galicot is the founder of Tijuana Innovadora and a leader of the Mexican Jewish community on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border.
What were the main objectives of Ron Huldai’s visits to Tijuana as part of Tijuana Innovadora, and what topics did he address in his conferences?