Preceded by Yisrael Peled Name Uri Amit Succeeded by Zvi Bar Role Politician | Political party Labor Party Israeli Labor Party Religion Judaism | |
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Born January 6, 1934
Baghdad, Iraq ( 1934-01-06 ) Died October 18, 2011, Ramat Gan, Israel | ||
Uri Amit (Hebrew: אורי עמית; born January 6, 1934 – October 18, 2011) was an Israeli politician who served as the third mayor of Ramat Gan between 1983 and 1989.
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Biography
Amit was born in Baghdad, Iraq in 1934. At the age of five, his family immigrated to the Mandatory Palestine. As a child he came to Ramat Gan, where relatives had lived since 1927. However, after a short time the family returned to Iraq, where their house was used as a centre for the HeHalutz Zionist movement.
Amit returned to now-independent Israel in 1949 at age 16. He stadied school in the Ben Shemen Youth Village and later moved to kibbutz Yagur. After his military service in the Israel Air Force, Amit began working in development projects in the Negev and joined the Mapai party, which later merged into the Labor Party.
Political career
In 1983 he ran successfully for mayor of Ramat Gan against incumbent Yisrael Peled and beat him to become the first Labor Party mayor of the city. During his term as mayor he closed polluting factories, preparing the infrastructure development in the Diamond Exchange District, improved infrastructure, increased the size of gardens in the city and opened the Museum of Israeli Art. Improving the tax collection rate in the city led to a substantial budget surplus.
In the 1989 elections Amit was defeated by Likud candidate Zvi Bar. However, Amit remained an opposition councillor until 2003.
Death
Amit died in October 2011 and was buried in Herzliya.