Politicsמשה ליאון

Moshe Lion

Moshe Lion is an Israeli accountant and Likud politician who has been Mayor of Jerusalem since 2018.

born 1961Mayor of JerusalemDirector-general of the Prime Minister's OfficeChairing Israel Railways

Born: 6 October 1961, Tel Aviv
Occupation: certified public accountant, chief executive officer, politician, businessperson
Party: Likud
Education: Bar-Ilan University

Moshe Lion was born in 1961 in Tel Aviv

Moshe Lion was born on 6 October 1961 in the Florentin neighborhood of Tel Aviv. His father's family came from Thessaloniki and his mother's family from Yemen. As a child he moved with his family to Givatayim, where his father served as a cantor.

He served in the IDF in the military rabbinate choir. He earned a degree in economics and accounting from Bar-Ilan University and became a certified public accountant in 1990.

In 1991 he cofounded the accounting firm Yitzhaki & Co., and he later ran his own firm until he retired in 2017. From 1997 to 1999 he was director-general of the Prime Minister's Office under Benjamin Netanyahu. He chaired Israel Railways from 2003 to 2006 and the Jerusalem Development Authority from 2008, where the First Station complex was built.

He lost the 2013 Jerusalem mayoral race to Nir Barkat and served on the city council. In 2018 he won a runoff against Ofer Berkovitch with 50.85% of the vote and became mayor. He was reelected in February 2024 against Yossi Havilio.