Uri Lupolianski (; born 1951) is an Israeli politician who served as the

mayor of Jerusalem The Mayor of the City of Jerusalem is head of the executive branch of the political system in Jerusalem. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property, most public agencies, and enforces all city and state laws within Jerusal ...

from 2003 to 2008 and is the founder of Yad Sarah.

Biography

Born August 29, 1951 in

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...

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 ...

, Lupolianski studied at the Yavne School in Haifa and then attended Yeshivat Hanegev and Yeshivat Torah Ore. He served in the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

as a paramedic and worked as a teacher at a religious school in Jerusalem. Lupolianski is married to Michal Lupolianski (Schneller), granddaughter of Rabbi Isaac Breuer. They have 12 children.

Yad Sarah

In 1976, Lupolianski founded the Yad Sarah organization to help the elderly and disabled. The organization is named for his Polish grandmother, who was murdered in

the Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

. It lends out medical equipment and supplies a variety of services to the sick, elderly and lonely. Yad Sarah has a network of 6,000 volunteers working out of 96 branches, and serves all sectors of the population.

Political career

Lupolianski was Deputy Mayor, chairperson of the Planning and Building Committee and responsible for the Family Services and Community portfolio. He was a member of the National Building and Planning Committee and the Committee for the Development of Holy Places. Lupolianski is a member of the Degel Hatorah party which ran for elections together with

Agudat Israel Agudat Yisrael (; Ashkenazi Hebrew: ''Agudas Yisroel'') is a Haredi Jewish political party in Israel. It began as a political party representing Haredi Jews in Poland, originating in the Agudath Israel movement in Upper Silesia. It later be ...

in a united party called

United Torah Judaism United Torah Judaism (, ''Yahadut HaTora'') is a Haredi, religious conservative political alliance in Israel. The alliance, consisting of Agudat Yisrael and Degel HaTorah, was first formed in 1992, in order to maximize Ashkenazi Haredi repr ...

. In the 2003 Jerusalem mayoral election, Lupolianski ran under the United Torah Judaism ticket. This was part of a rotation deal which stated that in the next election, the ticket would nominate a candidate from

. He was elected on June 6, 2003, after serving on the Jerusalem City Council from 1989.

Mayoral term

To attract students to Jerusalem's institutions of higher education, Lupolianski inaugurated the "Lupolianski Package" which offers special tuition and housing subsidies to university students renting apartments in the city center. Hi-tech workers who choose to live and work in Jerusalem are also eligible for a monthly grant to cover part of their living expenses. Lupolianski was accused of preferring Jews for civil service over Arabs, and of basing municipal decisions on his religious views. During his tenure as mayor, Lupolianski clashed with the Israeli gay and lesbian community for trying to stop or change the venue of their annual Gay pride parade in Jerusalem.

Awards

Before becoming mayor, Lupolianski won the President's Volunteer Prize, the

Knesset The Knesset ( , ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Israel. The Knesset passes all laws, elects the President of Israel, president and Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister, approves the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet, and supe ...

Speaker's Award and the Kaplan Prize for Efficiency. In 1994, he accepted the

Israel Prize The Israel Prize (; ''pras israél'') is an award bestowed by the State of Israel, and regarded as the state's highest cultural honor. History Prior to the Israel Prize, the most significant award in the arts was the Dizengoff Prize and in Israel ...

on behalf of Yad Sarah.

Holyland case

On January 5, 2011, he was indicted with 17 others for allegedly giving or receiving bribes to advance various real estate ventures, particularly the Holyland development. However, unlike the others in the case, Lupolianski never received any money himself. Rather, the money was sent to a Jerusalem charity that assists poor people in the city. In March 2014, he was found guilty of corruption.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lupolianski, Uri 1951 births Living people Degel HaTorah politicians Deputy mayors of Jerusalem Israeli government officials convicted of crimes Israeli Orthodox Jews Israeli people convicted of bribery Israeli politicians convicted of corruption Mayors of Jerusalem Politicians from Haifa Israeli politicians convicted of crimes Date of birth missing (living people)