Miriam Feirberg-Ikar (; born 11 July 1951) is an Israeli politician currently serving as the mayor of

Netanya Netanya () () or Natanya (), is a city in the "Planet Bekasi" Central District (Israel), Setanyahu of Israel, Israel BAB ih, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is north of Tel Aviv, and south of Haifa, between the Poleg stre ...

, a city in the Central District of

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 ...

. Feirberg is the first (elected) female mayor in Netanya and one of the few women who have served as mayors of Israeli cities.

Biography

Miriam Feirberg was born in

Acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...

, a city in northern

. Her father was an officer in the

Israel Border Police The Israel Border Police () is the gendarmerie and border security branch of the Israel National Police. It is also commonly known by its Hebrew abbreviation Magav (), meaning border guard; its members are colloquially known as ''magavnikim ...

, and her mother was a

social work Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social wo ...

er.Biography on the website of Netanya municipality
She obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in

sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

criminology Criminology (from Latin , 'accusation', and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'', 'word, reason') is the interdisciplinary study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is a multidisciplinary field in both the behaviou ...

and social work, and her Master of Arts degree in social work, both from

Bar-Ilan University Bar-Ilan University (BIU, , ''Universitat Bar-Ilan'') is a public research university in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel. Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is Israel's second-largest academic university institution. It has 20,000 ...

. Feirberg was married to Eli Feirberg. They have a son, Tzafrir, and a daughter, Tal. In 2004 she married Roni Ikar, former CEO of Netanya municipality.

Public service career

From 1972 to 1988 Feirberg was a social worker and head of the Netanya municipal social services department. In 1998, she was elected as mayor of Netanya. She was reelected mayor in, 2013, 2018 and 2024.

Awards and recognition

Feirberg won the 1990 prize for efficient management from the Union of Local Authorities in Israel.

Controversy

In September 2016, Feirberg was arrested on suspicion of bribery, fraud and abuse of power in connection with alleged municipal corruption. by Lahav 433. In June 2019, the investigation against Feirberg was closed, after State Prosecutor Shai Nitzan and other officials found a lack of evidence against her.Prosecutor: Not enough evidence to charge Netanya mayor in bribery case
''Times of Israel'' (June 23, 2019).Revital Hovel
Corruption Case Against Netanya Mayor Closed Due to Lack of Evidence
''Haaretz'' (June 23, 2019). Prosecutors continued to pursue charges against Netanya Deputy Mayor Shimon Sher.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Feirberg, Miriam 1951 births Bar-Ilan University alumni Israeli people of Romanian-Jewish descent Israeli social workers Jewish mayors Living people Mayors of places in Israel People from Netanya People from Acre, Israel Women mayors of places in Israel Jewish women politicians