Einat Kalisch-Rotem

Einat Kalisch-Rotem (Hebrew: עינת קליש-רותם‎; born 3 September 1970) is an Israeli urban planner and mayor of Haifa.[1][2] She is the first female mayor to lead any of the three major cities in Israel.[3]

Einat Kalisch
Mayor of Haifa
Assumed office
20 November 2018
Preceded byYona Yahav
Personal details
Born (1970-09-03) 3 September 1970
Haifa, Israel
Political partyLabour, Living in Haifa
Children2
Alma materTechnion
ETH Zurich
OccupationUrban planner

Early life and education

Kalisch-Rotem was born, raised and educated in Haifa. She studied at the Alliance Haifa High School and was active in the Student Council. She served in the IDF as a research assessor in the Israel Air Force.

In 1995 completed a bachelor's degree in architecture at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. In 2001 she completed her master's degree in urban design with honors from the Technion, and in 2007 completed her doctorate in urban planning at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, ETH Zurich.

Business career

Kalisch-Rotem owns an independent architectural firm that deals with urban and regional planning. She lectures at the Technion and Tel Aviv University. She won several awards, including a government award from the Ministry of Environmental Protection in 2007.

Since 2011 she has served as chairwoman of the Haifa Architects Association, and is a member of the Executive Committee of the Coalition for Public Health.

Kalish-Rotem continued her work as architect while serving on the Haifa city council. She was convicted in March 2018 of violating the Planning and Construction Law in the Court for Local Affairs in Hadera, regarding the construction of a private house in Zichron Yaakov, which was built without a building permit and fined 30,000 ILS.[1][4]

Public career

In the municipal elections 2013, she ran for mayor of Haifa on an independent list with the "Living in Haifa" faction against the incumbent mayor, Yona Yahav.

In the municipal elections 2018. In October 2018, she and her party were disqualified from running in the elections according to the decision of the Elections Administration,[1] after the Labor Party's lawyer signed both her forms and those of the "Lovers of Haifa" list run by Yisrael Savyon of the Labor Party. This created a situation in which two lists represented the Labor Party in the elections in the city, in violation of the election law. In response, Kalisch-Rotem and several organizations submitted a petition to the Haifa District Court, but the petition was rejected.[5] In the appeal filed with the High Court of Justice, her appeal was accepted, and it was determined that she was entitled to contend because she acted in good faith.[6]

In the municipal elections of 2018, she defeated veteran mayor Yona Yahav with 56% of the vote.[1][7] Her faction "Living in Haifa" received four seats on the city council.

Personal life

Kalish has a black belt in karate. Kalisch-Rotem is married and has two children.

References
  1. "In major upset, 3-term Haifa mayor trounced by female rival". The Times of Israel. 31 October 2018.
  2. Gil Hoffman (31 October 2018). "Haifa elects first woman mayor". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  3. "Einat Kalisch-Rotem, the first woman to lead a major Israeli city, elected in Haifa". The Jewish Chronicle. 31 October 2018.
  4. Yael Darel (13 March 2013). "Because of a three floors private house and a basement: a candidate for the mayor of Haifa was convicted of a serious building offense". TheMarker (in Hebrew). Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  5. "Days before election, courts disqualify Haifa, Elad mayoral candidates to uproar". The Times of Israel. 18 October 2018.
  6. "High Court reinstates Haifa mayoral candidate, bans Elad contender". The Times of Israel. 22 October 2018.
  7. Schneider, Tal (31 October 2018). "Kalisch-Rotem takes Haifa, Huldai keeps Tel Aviv". Globes.
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