Uri Amit ( he, אורי עמית; born January 6, 1934 – October 18, 2011) was an Israeli politician who served as the third mayor of Ramat Gan between 1983 and 1989.
Biography
Amit was born in Baghdad, Iraq in 1934. At the age of five, his family immigrated to the Mandatory Palestine. As a child he came to Ramat Gan, where relatives had lived since 1927. However, after a short time the family returned to Iraq, where their house was used as a centre for the HeHalutz Zionist movement.
Amit returned to independent Israel in 1949 at age 16. He went to school in the
Ben Shemen Youth Village
Ben Shemen Youth Village ( he, כפר הנוער בן שמן, ''Kfar HaNo'ar Ben Shemen'') is a youth village and agricultural boarding school in central Israel. Located near Ben Shemen and Ginaton, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hevel Modi ...
and later moved to kibbutz Yagur. After his military service in the
Israel Air Force
The Israeli Air Force (IAF; he, זְרוֹעַ הָאֲוִיר וְהֶחָלָל, Zroa HaAvir VeHahalal, tl, "Air and Space Arm", commonly known as , ''Kheil HaAvir'', "Air Corps") operates as the aerial warfare branch of the Israel Defense ...
, Amit began working in development projects in the Negev and joined the Mapai party, which later merged into the Labor Party.
In 1959 he was sent by the party to the Institute of Education in
Beit Berl
Beit Berl ( he, בֵּית בֶּרְל, , Berl House) is an institutional settlement in Israel. Located on the outskirts of Kfar Saba, the village falls under the jurisdiction of Drom HaSharon Regional Council and is the location of Beit Berl Co ...
. From which he moved to Ramat Gan in the early 1960s, he subsequently became active within Mapai youth circles within the City, and from 1963 served as secretary of the Histadrut in the Ramat Gan-Givatayim Workers' Council for more than 12 years, He was also one of the founders of the "Integration Department" (a Mapai youth group founded by university graduates) and a member of its national board.
Political career
In
1983
The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call.
Events January
* January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...
he ran successfully for mayor of Ramat Gan against incumbent
Yisrael Peled
Yisrael Peled ( he, ישראל פלד; born October 2, 1921; died July 14, 2016Diamond Exchange District, improved infrastructure, increased the size of gardens in the city and opened the Museum of Israeli Art. Improving the tax collection rate in the city led to a substantial budget surplus.
In the
1989 elections
The following elections occurred in the year 1989.
Africa
* 1989 Beninese parliamentary election
* 1989 Botswana general election
* 1989 Equatorial Guinean presidential election
* 1989 People's Republic of the Congo parliamentary election
* ...
Amit was defeated by Likud candidate Zvi Bar. However, Amit remained an opposition councillor until 2003, and Reportedly had ties to
Ehud Barak
Ehud Barak ( he-a, אֵהוּד בָּרָק, Ehud_barak.ogg, link=yes, born Ehud Brog; 12 February 1942) is an Israeli general and politician who served as the tenth prime minister from 1999 to 2001. He was leader of the Labor Party until Jan ...
.
In 1989, he was prosecuted for bribery, allegedly, the Dan Cooperative paid a sum of $5000 to a municipal local newspaper at his request and to promote his personal interest as mayor of Ramat Gan, in exchange for speeding up the procedures needed to complete the transfer of the Cooperative's in Gali Gil neighborhood in Ramat Gan. On January 27, 1993, Amit was convicted in the district court, and sentenced to nine months probation and a fine of NIS 11,000. His appeal to the Supreme Court was denied.
Death
Amit died in October 2011 and was buried in Herzliya.