Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality () is the arm of local government responsible for the administration of the

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

i city of

Tel Aviv-Yafo Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

. Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality handles such municipal affairs as education, culture, social welfare, infrastructure, urban planning and sanitation. The current head of the municipality is

Ron Huldai Ron Huldai (; born 26 August 1944) is an Israeli politician and businessman who has been Mayor of Tel Aviv since 1998. Before taking office as mayor, Huldai served as a fighter pilot and commander in the Israeli Air Force. After leaving the ...

History

Meir Dizengoff Meir Dizengoff (; born Meer Yankelevich Dizengof, ); 25 February 1861 – 23 September 1936) was a Zionism, Zionist leader and politician and the founder and first Mayor of Tel Aviv, mayor of Tel Aviv (1911–1922 as head of town planning, 1922� ...

was appointed head of the town planning in 1911. When Tel Aviv was recognized as a city, Dizengoff was elected mayor, remaining in office until his death. The Tel Aviv municipality was initially located on

Rothschild Boulevard Rothschild Boulevard (, ''Sderot Rotshild'') is one of the principal streets in the center of Tel Aviv, Israel, beginning in Neve Tzedek at its southwestern edge and running north to Habima Theatre. It is one of the most expensive streets in the ...

. When more office space was needed, the municipality rented a hotel on Bialik Street, near the home of national poet

Chaim Nachman Bialik Hayim Nahman Bialik (; January 9, 1873 – July 4, 1934) was a Jewish poet who wrote primarily in Hebrew and Yiddish. Bialik is considered a pioneer of modern Hebrew poetry, part of the vanguard of Jewish thinkers who gave voice to a new spirit ...

, which had been built by the Skura family in 1924. The hotel had opened for business in 1925 but closed due to the lack of tourists. In 1928, the municipality bought the hotel. A new city hall was designed in the 1950s by

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Menachem Cohen, in the

Brutalist style Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by minimalist constructions that showcase the ba ...

. A large plaza at the foot of the building, Kings of Israel Square, was designed as a central area for public events and ceremonies. The plaza has since been renamed

Rabin Square Rabin Square (), formerly Kings of Israel Square (), is a main large public city square in the center of Tel Aviv, Israel. Over the years it has been the site of numerous political rallies, parades, and other public events. In 1995, the square ...

. It is located on Ibn Gabirol Street. In 1972, the old building was converted into a museum for the history of Tel Aviv.

Administration

The municipality is governed by a 31-member council elected by proportional representation every five years. Current mayor

replaced the system of administration in which municipal divisions were headed by aldermen representing different coalition factions with a centralized system in which divisions are headed by top civil servants who report to him.

Gallery

File:TelAvivCityHall.jpg, Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality File:Beit-vaad-1924-paintervic.jpg, Beit HaVa'ad, 1924 File:Old Municipality of Tel Aviv1.jpg, Historic municipality building, 2007

References

{{Authority control Tel Aviv Municipalities of Israel