Talal Alkernawi ( ar, طلال القريناوي, he, טלאל אלקרינאוי, other spellings: ''Talal Alkrinawi'' or ''Talal Al karnawi'') is an

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Wester ...

- Muslim

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

i politician. He served as the mayor of

Rahat Rahat ( ar, رهط, he, רַהַט) is a predominantly Bedouin city in the Southern District of Israel. In it had a population of . As such, it is the largest Bedouin city in the world, and the only one in Israel to have city status. Rahat ...

in three spells between 1993 and 2018.

Early life

He was born (1954) and raised in

Career

Alkernawi started his career in a local bank. He was quickly promoted and became a bank manager at the age of 25. He served as a bank manager for a few years and then went on to politics. In 1977, he joined the

Israeli Labor Party The Israeli Labor Party ( he, מִפְלֶגֶת הָעֲבוֹדָה הַיִּשְׂרְאֵלִית, ), commonly known as HaAvoda ( he, הָעֲבוֹדָה, , The Labor), is a social democratic and Zionist political party in Israel. The ...

. In 1989, he ran for office in the city of Rahat. He was not elected, although he became the deputy mayor. In 1993, he was elected for the first time as the Mayor of Rahat. In his first period of office, Rahat's status was changed from a small local municipality to a city. In 1994, he participated in the

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

accords, and was

Yitzhak Rabin Yitzhak Rabin (; he, יִצְחָק רַבִּין, ; 1 March 1922 – 4 November 1995) was an Israeli politician, statesman and general. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974–77, and from 1992 until ...

s advisor as an Arabic-speaking politician.

Mayoralty

City size & land

During his tenure in Office for the years of 2013-2018, the city grew by 21,000 dunam which meant it doubled its size. This was done by an agreement with a municipality near by to pass land in order for Rahat to grow.

Economy

The unemployment rate went down from 34% in 2013 to 11% in 2018. Thanks to founding

Idan HaNegev Idan HaNegev Industrial Park ( he, עידן הנגב, , The Negev Era) is an industrial park being built southeast of the Bedouin city of Rahat, Israel. The goal is to alleviate unemployment in the local Bedouin population.Ron FriedmanMinisters i ...

and recruiting SodaStream to bring their factory to Rahat and employ over 2,500 employees.

Tax collection

In 2006, Rahat was able to collect municipality taxes from only 59% of its residents. In 2018, the local municipality collected local tax from 90% of its residents which helped grow its income and budget.

Culture

Built the first country club (swimming pool and recreational center) in rahat.

Education

In terms of education, when he took office in 2013 only 40% of Rahats students finished school with matriculation examination certificate. In 2018, 56% finished with a matriculation examination certificate. In addition, in 2013, only 0.7% of the school students finished with the highest level of English certificate. In 2018, the percentage grew to 8.4%.

Tourism

In 2015, the municipality cooperating with government ministries started to develop tourists trips in Rahat.

Personal life

Alkernawi lives in Rahat, is married and has six children. He is the brother of Prof. Alean Al Krenawi.

Political views

Alkernawi is known to express his views supporting coexistence living between Arabs and Jews in Israel. He was a member of two different center-left wing parties (

Kadima Kadima ( he, קדימה, lit=''Forward'') was a centrist and liberal political party in Israel. It was established on 24 November 2005 by moderates from Likud largely following the implementation of Ariel Sharon's unilateral disengagement p ...

and Labor party). In 2017, he publicly offered to absorb Syrian refugees to Rahat, and offered them work in the city.

References

External links

Rahat’s Week From Hell

Police Visit Negev Beduin Leaders To Mark Eid Al-Adha
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alkernawi, Talal Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Arab politicians in Israel Mayors of places in Israel Bedouin Israelis People from Southern District (Israel) Arab citizens of Israel People from Rahat Ono Academic College alumni