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Hitorerut in Jerusalem!
The Jerusalem of Tomorrow Starts Today!
Citizens, religious and secular, from the right and the left stand together in the struggle for a liberal and zionist Jerusalem, built on mutual respect and a desire for a better city. We are committed to maximize the benefits of Jerusalem’s diversity, and we reject the violence and extremism that has wrought Israel over the last few years. We know first hand that the people of Jerusalem need policies and vision for the future, not mediocrity and corrupt power struggles.
The story of a movement
Jerusalem is not just another city, its the holy city, the capital city, a city that is ancient, yet filled with endless opportunity. For many of us, Jerusalem is our home. It’s where we grew up, studied, where we first fell in love, the city where we became parents and chose to raise our children. Jerusalem is a home for all, religious, secular, right and left.
However, for many of us, as time goes on this city feels less and less like home. This process didn’t start yesterday, but it has accelerated in the last four years. There are groups that are being pushed out, and not by chance. More and more neighborhoods are losing their unique character. In much of the city, many feel like they don’t belong. Who among us doesn't have a close family member who left town?
When we look at Ramat Eshkol, Ramot and what is happening now in Kiryat Yovel, Gilo and Pisgat Ze'ev, we can see that the status quo has long been a recommendation. Lady Davis became a Beit Yaakov seminary, pools are closed on Shabbat and more.
For the past 15 years, Hitorerut has worked to guarantee that we will continue to have a home here. Thousands of concerned citizens have come together and changed the discourse and created a broad coalition of people with left, right, secular, religious, and even ultra-Orthodox backgrounds – a "coalition of moderates". We’ve fought tirelessly against destructive processes such as the closing of secular public schools, efforts to push women out of public life, and harmful construction in the white ridge area of the Jerusalem hills.
We’ve also initiated and led positive campaigns: we increased the number of hi-tech companies in the city, we made a cultural revolution in the Mahane Yehuda market, we brought the summer camps to professionals, we took care of the stream of ultra-Orthodox state education, we brought urban renewal to the city center, we dismantled Egged's monopoly, ensuring more efficient public transportation. We also established an operations center during Covid, guiding volunteers and matching resources and needs for all of Jerusalem’s citizens. We’ve also helped constituents navigate property taxes, we’ve reduced bureaucracy, we’ve helped small businesses grow, and much more.
We do this work because we believe that Jerusalem should not only be a home, but the home of our dreams. A place where we can make a decent living, just like our friends in the center of the country. A place where we can purchase an apartment that suits us. A place that has a fu; quality of life. Entertainment, culture, leisure. Restaurants and cafes, even on shabbat. A place that has the best transportation available. A pleasant place to walk. The place where we don't have to fight every Monday and Thursday for our very existence.
For 15 years, Hitorerut s the place that promises to stay here at home, in Jerusalem.
It is the home for all dreamers and dreams in Jerusalem, who also want to create a better tomorrow for our beloved city.
אושרי ניסים
אייל השקס
אינגה גל מדורסקי
אריאל בזיז
בנימין לאשקר
דן טמיר
דניאל סיטון
הודיה סולומון
אבי בן ז׳אנו
יאיר פראן
יערה שילה
מוריה רודל סילפן
מרים סלע
נועה שלום
סתיו סלע
אדיר שוורץ
רון מאיר
עומר רבי
Our Vision
Hitorerut will work to lead Jerusalem to guarantee a zionist, tolerant, and productive future, while ensuring that Jerusalem remains a home for residents from all sectors, through innovative, intense and determined political-social action.
Jerusalem is the eternal capital of Israel and the Jewish people, and the largest city in the country. This city moves every person who enters it. This city is intrinsically interconnected,not only geographically, but also socially through the diverse populations within it. Secular, religious, ultra-Orthodox, Arabs, every tribe has found a place for itself in Jerusalem for many years.
One would think that Jerusalem would be a leading city in Israel and the world. In practice, with all its virtues and beauty, Jerusalem suffers from severe economic problems, a housing crisis is worsening and too many young people cannot find their place here and are looking for another alternative.
In Jerusalem, a revolution is yet to come. In some areas the city is thriving, and in others collapsing. In recent years, Jerusalem has dropped to second lowest level on Israel’s national socio-economic index, a testimony to the abject poverty in which many residents live, and to the negative migration of the people that brought the city the bulk of its income. The property tax in Jerusalem is the highest in Israel. However because of the inequality in the city, a small portion of the population pays far more than their fair share, and they rarely see the benefit of their taxes. The problem has worsened in recent years, causing many young people to leave the city. If young economically productive citizens leave the city and we allow Jerusalem to fail – the problem will spread to the entirety of Israeli society.
In the Hitorerut’s Jerusalem, there is a place for everyone, religious, secular, right-wing and left-wing. Our common ground is recognizing that we need a more successful Jerusalem, we want to see it diverse, productive, living and breathing, developed, prosperous and renewed. Hitorerut promotes a city that will keep its young people here, promote the productive population and take care of the lives of different and diverse populations alongside each other and not at the expense of the other.
In the upcoming elections we must make a real change, one that will bring the city the prosperity it so deserves on the one hand, and on the other hand keep the Zionist and productive public in the city.
Achievements
Jerusalem is a mosaic of diverse communities, and we will continue to work so that each of them can build a prosperous future here in the city.
Cost of living
Parents, students, young people, the elderly and the general public in Jerusalem are struggling under the high cost of living. To make it easier we fought against an increase in property taxes, we obtained an automatic discount for active reservists, and we were able to discount the august summer camps by hundreds of shekels.
A Clean Environment
We led the introduction of the orange recycling bins in the city, we managed to change the White Ridge plan to reduce the damage to the springs and the nature preserve, we fought against the uprooting of trees without a permit and prevented damage to 700 trees in Gan Sacher.
Transportation
Every Jerusalemite is tired of the traffic jams everywhere, and the difficulty in getting place to place. That's why we increased the number and frequency of buses, we were able to contribute to the end of the Egged monopoly and the introduction of additional operators, we worked to promote public transportation solutions on the weekend. We have a comprehensive strategy to ease traffic jams and encourage the development of transportation infrastructure.
Economy and Employment
The capital city of Israel must be home to government institutions, with a stable and strong economy, advanced jobs and centers of innovation. Thanks to the struggle to move "Kan" the Public Broadcasting Corporation and the Innovation Authority, we have created hundreds of new jobs. we continue to demand the immediate relocation of all government offices to Jerusalem as required by law. We fought to reduce signage fees for businesses and we provided assistance to small businesses during the pandemic.
Education
We believe in the future generation of Jerusalem, a mixed, productive and educated generation. We fought to preserve the state educational institutions in the city, we expanded the August camp project for children in special education, and we opened allergy sensitive kindergartens in the Giloh, Har Homa and Beit HaKerem neighborhoods. We also fought for equality in the budgets provided to ultra-Orthodox youth and the youth of the general and Arab public.
Culture and leisure
Jerusalem is a vibrant cultural center unlike anywhere else in the world. We were able to double the municipal cultural budget, initiate cultural festivals in the city's neighborhoods, turn Mahane Yehuda into a bustling center of entertainment and commerce, and we were also able to save the legendary Smadar Cinema from closing.
A city for all
Jerusalem belongs to everyone. We believe in making connections and building bridges for a Zionist and prosperous future for the city. We led an uncompromising fight against the defacement of signs depicting women and against the exclusion of women in the public sphere, we prevented the closing of secular kindergartens in Ramot, Rasko and Pisgat Ze'ev. We also fought against the closing of cafes in public parks on Shabbat while giving each entrepreneur the independence of how to operate on the weekends.
