Dov Zur (; born 17 October 1955) is an Israeli politician and the former mayor of

Rishon LeZion Rishon LeZion ( , "First to Zion") is a city in Israel, located along the central Israeli coastal plain south of Tel Aviv. It is part of the Gush Dan metropolitan area. Founded in 1882 by Jewish immigrants from the Russian Empire who were ...

Biography and personal life

Zur was born in Rishon LeZion in 1955, to a Syrian mother and Hungarian father. Zur is a divorcee and father of three children. His partner is Ariela Israeli, who served as head of the Education Administration of Rishon LeZion.

Political career

Zur first ran for the Rishon LeZion City Council in 1993, and was elected. He served as Deputy Mayor under

Meir Nitzan Meir Nitzan (; 18 May 1931 – 19 April 2025) was an Israeli politician. He was mayor of Rishon LeZion for five consecutive terms. Background Meir Nitzan was born in Bucharest, Romania as Meir Mintz. He lived in a displaced persons' camp in Cyp ...

, but resigned to serve in the Opposition. In 1998, he ran for Mayor of Rishon LeZion under his own party, "Quality Rishon" (Rishon Shel Echut), He lost to Nitzan, and continued to serve in the opposition. He ran again in 2003 under the

Shinui Shinui () was a Zionist, secular, and anti-clerical free market Liberalism worldwide, liberal party and political movement in Israel. The party twice became the third-largest in the Knesset, but both occasions were followed by a split and collaps ...

Party, winning 37.55% of the vote. Zur was elected on November 11, 2008, beating Meir Nitzan, who had served as mayor of Rishon Lezion for 25 years. Zur received 52.75% of the vote.

Mayor of Rishon LeZion

After becoming mayor of Rishon LeZion, Zur made efforts to cancel construction permits granted by his predecessor, for environmental considerations. He abolished

Middle school Middle school, also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school, is an educational stage between primary school and secondary school. Afghanistan In Afghanistan, middle school includes g ...

, extending the length of high school education to 6 years. Zur promoted the construction of the Brown Line of the

Tel Aviv Light Rail The Tel Aviv Light Rail (, Romanized: ''Ha'rakēvet Ha'kalā Be'Tel Avīv'', , Romanized: ''Qītar Tall ʾAbīb Al-khāfifa''), also known as Dankal (, ) is a mass transit system for Gush Dan, the Tel Aviv metropolitan area in central Israel. T ...

, and offered to have Municipal authorities help fund the project. He won re-election in 2013 with 70.7% of the vote. As part of a real-estate corruption investigation, on December 3, 2017, Tzur was detained for 8 days, on suspicion of accepting bribes, conspiracy to commit a crime, fraud and breach of trust. He was then released into a 10-day house arrest, and prohibited from returning to his duties as Mayor for another 25 days. At the end of January 2018 he resumed his duties under restrictions, and was banned from attending or attending meetings of the Planning and Building Committee, the Tenders Committee, and the city’s Economic Society. He announced he would seek re-election in 2018. He ran against former Deputy Mayor, Raz Kinstlich, winning 31.89% of the vote in the first round to Kinslitch's 21.77%. In the second round, Zur was defeated with 47.37% of the vote against Kinslitch's 52.63%. He announced his retirement from the City Council subsequent to his loss. In March 2019, the police stated that sufficient evidence had been found to substantiate suspicions that he had committed a bribery offense.

References

1956 births Living people Mayors of Rishon LeZion Tel Aviv University alumni Israeli people of Syrian-Jewish descent Israeli people of Hungarian-Jewish descent {{Israel-mayor-stub Gymnasia Realit alumni