Yossi Havilio

Yossi Havilio was born in 1959 in Jerusalem

Havilio was born in Jerusalem in 1959 and grew up in the Rassco neighborhood. He attended the Hebrew Gymnasium in Jerusalem and played youth basketball for Hapoel Jerusalem. In 1976 he won the gold medal in the 400m hurdles at the Israel Athletics Championships.

He joined the IDF in 1977 and served as an aerial scout in the Intelligence Corps. He then studied at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, earning a law degree and a master's degree in public policy, administration and law with honors.

After an internship with Attorney General Yitzhak Zamir, he opened a private law firm in 1985. In 2001 he was appointed legal adviser to the Jerusalem Municipality and disagreed with mayors Uri Lupolianski and Nir Barkat on several issues, including the Jerusalem pride parade. He left the post after a dispute with Barkat.

In 2012 he opened a public law firm and represented petitioners at the Supreme Court, including on Shabbat openings and the public housing company Prazot. In 2014 he founded the Tzahor association, which works on equality, human rights and proper governance in Jerusalem.

He ran for mayor in 2018 but withdrew and endorsed Ofer Berkovitch, and was elected to the city council. He joined Moshe Lion's coalition and became a deputy mayor. In the 2024 election he led the Jerusalem Union list, won 18.5% of the vote and lost to Lion.