Ron Huldai

Infobox Military Person
name= Ron Huldai
(רון חולדאי)
lived= 1944–
placeofbirth=Hulda, nowrap|Mandate Palestine
placeofdeath=


caption= Ron Huldai speaking at the opening of the American Corner in Jaffa.
nickname=
allegiance=flagicon|Israel Israel
serviceyears= 1963 – 1989
rank= Brigadier General nowrap|("Tat Aluf")
branch= air force|Israel
commands=
unit=
battles=
awards=
laterwork= Mayor of Tel Aviv

Ron Huldai ( _he. רון חולדאי, b. 26 August 1944) is an Israeli politician and former fighter pilot, and the mayor of Tel Aviv. He was born in 1944 in Hulda (his surname is taken from the name of the kibbutz) to Polish parents from Łódź. He is a history graduate of Tel Aviv University, Auburn University at Montgomery (Alabama), the U.S. Air Force Air War College at Maxwell Air Force Base (Montgomery, AL), and the Advanced Management Program at Wharton College, University of Pennsylvania.

In the course of his twenty six years of military service in the Israeli Air Force (1963-1989), he served as a combat pilot and held several key senior command positions. As Brigadier General, he was in charge of the Air Force Pilots Training School. He also served as a coordinator of the government authorities and supervisor of civilian construction projects for the IAF.

Following his retirement from active duty in 1989, he entered the private sector. Three years later, he became headmaster of the prestigious high school Gymnasia Herzliya and remained in office for six years.

A member of the Labour Party, Huldai was first elected mayor of Tel Aviv in 1998, and was re-elected in 2003 with 62% of the vote. [ [http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=354879&contrassID=1&subContrassID=7&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y Likud loses control of several major cities] Haaretz, 29 October 2003]

Huldai has been criticized for not enforcing the new anti-smoking law in Israel. [ [http://www.themarker.com/tmc/article.jhtml?log=tag&ElementId=rlg20081601_89166 In hebrew] The Marker, 16 January 2008]

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