Yakir Yerushalayim
Jerusalem Municipality award
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Yakir Yerushalayim (Hebrew: יַקִּיר יְרושָׁלַיִם, lit. 'Honored of Jerusalem'), officially titled the Worthy Citizen of Jerusalem award, is an annual civic honor bestowed by the Jerusalem Municipality. Inaugurated in 1967, it recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the city's cultural, social, and educational life.[1]
Native nameיַקִּיר יְרוּשָׁלַיִם
Awarded forOutstanding contribution to the cultural and educational life of Jerusalem
Country
Israel
IsraelPresented byMayor of Jerusalem
| Yakir Yerushalayim | |
|---|---|
| Native name | יַקִּיר יְרוּשָׁלַיִם |
| Awarded for | Outstanding contribution to the cultural and educational life of Jerusalem |
| Country | Israel |
| Presented by | Mayor of Jerusalem |
| Eligibility | Aged 65+ |
| Status | Active |
| Established | 1967 |
| Website | https://www.jerusalem.muni.il/he/city/yakir/  |
To be eligible, candidates must be at least 65 years old. Recipients are selected by a five-member committee appointed by the Mayor, which evaluates nominees based on their life story and their impact on the city. Recommendations are submitted by city council members, with the final selection occurring each spring. The awards are traditionally presented on Yom Yerushalayim (Jerusalem Day).[1][2]
There are eight categories for the award: Education; Culture; Public Service; Promoting Unity and Tolerance; Volunteering, Charity, and Kindness; Research and Academia; Religion and Israeli Heritage; and Development and Infrastructure. To ensure comprehensive coverage, the award is given in at least six of these categories annually, with all eight covered over any two-year cycle.
Honorees are entitled to be interred in the Yakir Yerushalayim section of Har HaMenuchot Cemetery.
Notable recipients
| Year | Name | Background |
|---|---|---|
| 1967 | Ben-Zion Dinur | Educator, historian and Israeli government minister |
| 1967 | Samuel Hugo Bergmann | Jewish philosopher |
| 1967 | Naftali Herz Tur-Sinai | Bible scholar, an author, and linguist |
| 1967 | Shlomo Yosef Zevin | Eminent Orthodox rabbi |
| 1968 | Yitzhak Baer | Historian and expert in medieval Spanish Jewish history |
| 1968 | Ludwig Blum[3] | Jerusalem painter |
| 1968 | Berl Locker | Zionist activist and Israeli politician |
| 1968 | Benjamin Mazar | Historian and archaeologist |
| 1968 | Rachel Katznelson-Shazar | Political figure, wife of Zalman Shazar, the third President of Israel |
| 1968 | Miriam Yalan-Shteklis | Children's author |
| 1969 | David Benvenisti | Historian and geographer |
| 1969 | William F. Albright | Archaeologist and biblical scholar |
| 1969 | Gershom Scholem | Jewish philosopher and historian |
| 1970 | Simon Halkin | Poet and novelist |
| 1970 | Pinchas Litvinovsky | Artist |
| 1970 | Moshe Rachmilewitz | Physician |
| 1970 | Anna Ticho | Artist |
| 1974 | Mordecai Ardon | Artist |
| 1974 | Moshe Zvi Segal | Rabbi and prominent member of Etzel and Lechi |
| 1974 | Zev Vilnay | Geographer |
| 1977 | Marc Chagall | Artist |
| 1978 | George Douglas Young[4] | Christian Zionist and Theologian |
| 1980 | Louis Isaac Rabinowitz | Deputy mayor of Jerusalem, rabbi and philologist |
| 1981 | Leo Picard | Geologist and expert in the field of hydrology |
| 1982 | Walter Frankl[5] | Botanist |
| 1984 | Nahman Avigad | Archaeologist |
| 1984 | Nathan J. Saltz | University professor and surgeon |
| 1984 | Reuven Shari | Israeli politician |
| 1988 | Marguerite Bernes[6] | Algerian nun and recognised as Righteous Among the Nations |
| 1988 | Elisheva Cohen[7] | Israel Museum curator |
| 1989 | Marcel-Jacques Dubois | Roman Catholic theologian and professor of religion at Hebrew University of Jerusalem |
| 1989 | Joshua Prawer | Historian |
| 1989 | Zerach Warhaftig | Israeli lawyer and politician |
| 1990 | Israel Eldad | Former Zionist political activist and Revisionist Zionist philosopher |
| 1991 | Yaakov Arnon | Israeli politician |
| 1991 | Reuven Feuerstein[8] | Psychologist and director of the International Center for the Enhancement of Learning Potential |
| 1992 | Yemima Avidar-Tchernovitz | Children's author |
| 1995 | Colette Aboulker-Muscat | Natural physician |
| 1995 | Zehava Malkiel | Activist for the International Council of Jewish Women |
| 1995 | Josef Tal | Composer |
| 1996 | Avraham Biran | Archaeologist and excavator of Tel Dan |
| 1997 | Martin Kieselstein[9] | Doctor, assistance to the elderly of Jerusalem |
| 1997 | Jacob Sheskin | Professor at Hadassah Hospital, head of the Hansen Hospital in Jerusalem |
| 2000 | Itzhak Nener | Jurist who served as vice president of Liberal International, cofounded the International Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists, and was elected to the Municipality of Jerusalem |
| 2001 | Menachem Elon | Professor of Law specializing in Mishpat Ivri, Deputy President and Justice of the Israeli Supreme Court |
| 2002 | Yechiel Grebelsky[10] | Pioneer of Jerusalem stone industry |
| 2002 | Yehuda Kiel | Educator and bible commentator, who headed the Da'at Miqra project |
| 2002 | Meier Schwarz | Professor emeritus for plant physiology and director of the Synagogue Memorial |
| 2002 | Els Bendheim[11] | Born and raised in Amsterdam, contributed to helping medical and educational institutions in Jerusalem |
| 2004 | Miriam Ben-Porat | Former Supreme Court judge and former State Comptroller |
| 2004 | Netiva Ben Yehuda | Author, editor, and former soldier of the Palmach |
| 2005 | Shlomo Merzel | Educator and director of Horev Torah institutions |
| 2006 | Robert Aumann | Nobel Prize–winning mathematician |
| 2006 | Emanuel Zisman | Israeli politician and former ambassador |
| 2007 | Geulah Cohen | Israeli politician and journalist |
| 2008 | Yehuda Bauer | Historian and Professor of Holocaust Studies, Hebrew University of Jerusalem |
| 2010 | David Kroyanker | Architect and architectural historian of Jerusalem |
| 2010 | Nahum Rakover | Professor emeritus of Bar-Ilan University and former Deputy Attorney General |
| 2010 | Shulamit Kishik-Cohen[12] | Israeli spy who worked to rescue Jews from Arab countries |
| 2012 | Shlomo Aronson | Landscape Architect and City Planner |
| 2013 | Ruth Kark | Historical geographer, Hebrew University of Jerusalem |
| 2014 | Hagai Sitton | Lawyer and public activist |
| 2014 | Chaim Yeshayahu Hadari | Rabbi, founding Rosh Yeshiva and current Rosh Yeshiva emeritus of Yeshivat Hakotel in the Old City[13] |
| 2014 | Rachel Chalkowski | Chief Midwife at Shaare Zedek and founder of important charity Matan B'Seter Bamb[14] |
| 2016 | Menashe Eichler [15] | Military volunteer |
| 2017 | Adin Steinsaltz[16] | Chabad Chasidic rabbi, teacher, philosopher, social critic, author, translator and publisher |
| 2017 | Eliyahu Gabai | Member of the Knesset for the National Religious Party (1996–1999, 2006–2009) |
| 2017 | David Blumberg | Senior banker and public figure active in promoting culture and education in Israel |
| 2018 | Gabriel Barkay | World-renowned archaeologist. |
| 2018 | Avraham Rivkind | Head of the department of general surgery and trauma unit of Hadassah Medical Center |
| 2019 | Menachem Hacohen | Knesset member for Alignment (1974–1988); chief rabbi of the Moshavim Movement and Histadrut |
| 2020 | Tamar Peretz[17] | Israeli doctor and researcher, professor at the Hebrew University School of Medicine in Jerusalem. |
| 2020 | Yehoram Gaon[18] | Singer, actor, director, comedian, producer, TV and radio host, and public figure. |
| 2020 | Kalman Samuels[18] | Founder of Shalva, the Israel Association for the Care and Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities |
| 2021 | Ezra Yachin[19] | Lehi fighter who fought in the 1948 Palestine war, lecturer for IDF soldiers |
| 2022 | Galila Ron-Feder Amit[20] | Children books author. |
| 2025 | Shalva Weil[21] | Israeli historian |