An interview with the man who won 35% of the vote for mayor of Tel Aviv (video).

Dov Khenin is not the typical Israeli politician. A veteran environmentalist, Khenin gets around the city by bus or on his bike. While he comes across as relaxed and even-tempered, the look in his eyes projects seriousness and determination. He voices his opinions clearly, without any of the Orwellian doublespeak that has become the trademark of the local political discourse. He shows up for our interview, at a small coffee shop in northern Tel Aviv, casually dressed and on foot.

A human rights lawyer with a doctorate in political science, Khenin served as Chairman of Life and Environment, the umbrella organization of Israel’s environmental movement, for three years prior to being elected to the Knesset. Though he comes from a political family (Khenin’s father was one of the leaders of the Israeli Communist Party, Maki), Khenin has been in politics for only two years.

As a Member of Knesset from the Jewish-Arab Hadash party, Khenin has been instrumental in passing environmental legislation. Together with Rabbi Michael Melchior, he heads the Knesset’s Social-Environmental Lobby, a group of forty lawmakers that promotes progressive legislation.

This unassuming man, the head a diverse list of neighborhood activists, environmentalists and academics known as A City for All (Ir Licoolanu), is seen by many as the only serious alternative to the policies of incumbent mayor Ron Huldai.

What is A City for All?

Well, A City for All is really a fascinating phenomenon. It is a kind of urban movement that was created in Tel Aviv over the past year by people who were involved in different struggles on the municipal level, and came to realize that they all have something in common.

This way we created this very unique, multi-party movement. Most of the people involved are not members of political parties at all, though some are members of various parties. But we have a strong and well-developed opinion on the problems of the city and we want to put forward an alternative to what is going on in Tel Aviv-Jaffa right now.

How would the city change under A City for All’s leadership?

It will be different on the environmental front; we will see a much greener city, with public transportation as the most important priority. We will see a city with more social justice, bridging the gaps between north and south. We will see a city where affordable housing programs will be advanced very, very quickly. And most importantly we will see a democratic city with open doors to social activity, to civil society, and to all kinds of organizations, groups and initiatives.

What is your vision for Tel Aviv? What can we expect after five years under your leadership?

Tel Aviv-Jaffa is a fascinating city. It is a really interesting, intense, good place to be. But there are very grave dangers that are hanging over Tel Aviv right now.

First of all, we would like to have a transportation revolution in the city. We should have a very modern, efficient public transportation system here. Otherwise we will continue with the present transportation crisis. You know, people do not have a place to park their cars, there are terrible traffic jams and air pollution. We shouldn’t continue to wait around for an underground train system. There are different solutions for public transportation systems based on rapid, clean, modern buses that could really change the transport situation.

Another very important problem is housing. Many young people are driven out of the city because they can’t really afford to continue living here. This is another area where the municipality can be involved and make a difference.

Of course, the Tel Aviv Municipality does not create market forces, but we believe that the city should not just swim along with the current; we believe it should swim against the stream. [This can be done,] for instance, by building flats that are more suitable to the population here. Most households in the city are very small, so people need smaller flats, cheaper flats, and not the very luxury giant flats that are being built in these towers that [current Mayor] Ron Huldai is really encouraging.

So the municipality, using smart urban planning policy, can change the crisis of demand that is driving up housing prices. We should also use the municipality’s own housing companies to build affordable housing. The city can encourage different affordable housing schemes; it is possible, it is being done in different places around the world, and Tel Aviv is very suitable for such programs.

Another is the issue of democracy and openness. Some people say that the city is being run like an army barracks, with the mayor as commander, where the people’s opinions do not really count. In our view, the most important thing in the city is not the streets and the buildings, but the people and the communities. Ron Huldai is not attentive, at all, to the needs of the communities in the city.

Another very important issue is education, which is also connected with the issue of equality between north and south Tel Aviv.

What steps must be taken here in light of the world economic and ecological crises? Which other world cities could serve as development models for Tel Aviv?

In the world of the 21^st century, the city is a very important arena for the struggle for environmental change. This is a very acute issue, it’s not a theoretical issue, and actually it’s a matter of life and death for people and, in a way, for humanity at large. We can find very interesting examples of changes all around the world that Tel Aviv can learn from, starting with Vancouver, Portland and Curitiba, Brazil. We can also look at cities in Europe where public transport is the norm and the private car is the exception. This is not currently the situation in Tel Aviv, but it can change.

What can be done to make transportation in the city more efficient?

One very important legal tool is a new change in the Transportation Law. This was one of my initiatives, as a member of the Knesset, which gives local authority a clear and wide mandate in dealing with transport in the city, in order to lower air pollution. With legal tools like this one we can really make a revolution in the city.

What we plan to do is to make rapid routes open for public transport. We would like to change the bus system, which can be done relatively cheaply, and create a network of rapid buses all over Tel Aviv that will persuade the average Israeli to leave his car at home, avoid using it in the city, and instead use public transport. This is the key. Our policy on transport is first of all public transportation and then bicycles, at the expense of the private car.

In recent years, skyscrapers have been appearing all over the city, and much criticism has been leveled against them. Does the city have a policy regarding tall buildings? Are there places where skyscrapers are inappropriate?

There are places where we can build skyscrapers, for example along the Ayalon highway. Where you have a rapid transportation system that can serve these huge buildings, it is possible to build skyscrapers. We do not oppose skyscrapers on principle. But the current administration is building skyscrapers all over the city. And in places where the structures are very low and dense, such a tower is a social, environmental and transportation disaster. That we will surely avoid.

Do you have any plans to make the city’s bureaucracy less onerous and more functional for citizens and local business owners?

Well, the strangest thing of all is that if you want to build a 40 story tower, it will be [approved] much quicker than if you want to close the small balcony in your apartment. That is very strange, and we cannot accept that situation. We should create different fields of approval for different plans. The smaller issues should be dealt with in a simple, quick fast-track. When we deal with the big plans, the discussion should be much deeper and much more serious, and would certainly take much more time.

Despite its great potential, much of Tel Aviv remains aesthetically unappealing, to say the least. How active of a role should the municipality take in improving the city’s appearance?

Well, let’s begin with the fact that there is a very big difference between what you can see here -- we are sitting in a residential area in north Tel Aviv and the surroundings are relatively nice, you know – and what you can see in the streets of Jaffa or the south of the city. There the municipality should do much more to improve the physical appearance of the neighborhood. This is part of bridging the social gap between north and south.

Tel Aviv is home to some of the country’s most active and influential environmental groups, many of whom have quite a lot to say about the city’s development, but feel like they are always fighting an uphill battle. How would you, as mayor, relate to environmental groups and neighborhood organizations?

This is a very, very important issue. I think that what you refer to, that Tel Aviv is very rich with many kinds of organizations, struggles, people with ideas -- this is really a very important resource for the city. So we should see ourselves as very lucky that we have all these kinds of energy in the city. We should really embrace all of these organizations and movements and groups, and tell them: “We are lucky to have you with us.”

The current situation is the opposite. The current administration really views these organizations and activities as some kind of obstacle. The mayor has his own ideas, and there are these very strange green people who come and make things difficult, you know. It is very wrong to view things like this, because actually all of these people are the most important thing we have in the city.

Tel Aviv is also home to some of the country’s most powerful business interests. How do you plan to garner their support for the new party?

Well, we are not a party, we are a movement. But our movement deals mainly with small businesses. These are very important in the city, and we should protect the small shops and cafes in the street, because this is part of what makes the city a city. If we do not preserve them, there is a danger that businesses will leave the city for all kinds of complexes outside the city. And that is very bad socially, and in terms of urbanism.

How can that be done?

We should encourage small cafes in different parts of the city, not only in the north, but also in the south. Small enterprises can really make a big change in the total overall atmosphere of these neighborhoods, without putting much money into it, making the whole neighborhood livelier and healthier, in a way.

Does the city have the tools to do this?

Surely. The city has the tools because the city is the one who regulates permits for businesses.

You are a member of the Hadash party, and you have been characterized as a communist and even an anti-Zionist. How would you characterize your political worldview?

Well, of course I am from the Left. I am a member of Hadash, which is a Jewish-Arab political movement. And my worldview is socialist and universalist, and I am for peace with the Palestinians as well as with the Syrians. All these issues are very important, and of course I have my opinions, which are not a secret, but these are not the issues being voted on in Tel Aviv.

So when people tell me, ‘you are for peace with Syria’, I tell them that this is correct. Of course I am for the peace with Syria, with all the implications that this entails for the Golan Heights and so on. But with all due respect, this is not something that the Tel Aviv-Jaffa Municipality will decide.

Again, these are very interesting issues and topics, and we can discuss them at length, but these are not the real issues [at hand]. You know, when people speak about Zionism, what they understand is very different. Is it a specific ideology or is it a way of saying that someone is a patriot? Of course I am an Israeli patriot. I love my country. As an environmentalist I defend my country against all kinds of threats. From businesspeople, for example, who would like to tear it apart. I want to make [Israel’s] people happier and secure a better future, in my own way.

All these issues are very important and interesting, but again, these are not the issues at stake in Tel Aviv. When my opponents try to divert the discussion from the issues on the agenda in Tel Aviv to grand ideology, I think that they are afraid of debating the real issues here in the city.

Interview text originally published in Jerusalem Post Metro on November 7 2008. Video posted on TreeHugger.com on November 9 2008.