Einat Kalisch-Rotem


Dr. Einat Kalisch-Rotem is an Israeli architect and mayor of Haifa. She is the first female mayor to lead any of the three major cities in Israel.

Early life and education

Kalisch-Rotem was born, raised and educated in Haifa. She studied at the Alliance Haifa High School and was active in the Student Council. She served in the IDF as a research assessor in the Israel Air Force.
In 1995 completed a bachelor's degree in architecture at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. In 2001 she completed her master's degree in urban design with honors from the Technion, and in 2007 completed her doctorate in urban planning at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, ETH Zurich.

Business career

Kalisch-Rotem owns an independent architectural firm that deals with urban and regional planning. She lectures at the Technion and Tel Aviv University. She won several awards, including a government award from the Ministry of Environmental Protection in 2007.
Since 2011 she has served as chairwoman of the Haifa Architects Association, and is a member of the Executive Committee of the Coalition for Public Health.
Kalish-Rotem continued her work as architect while serving on the Haifa city council. She was convicted in March 2018 of violating the Planning and Construction Law in the Court for Local Affairs in Hadera, regarding the construction of a private house in Zichron Yaakov, which was built without a building permit and fined 30,000 ILS.

Public career

In the municipal elections 2013, she ran for mayor of Haifa on an independent list with the "Living in Haifa" faction against the incumbent mayor, Yona Yahav.
In the municipal elections 2018. In October 2018, she and her party were disqualified from running in the elections according to the decision of the Elections Administration, after the Labor Party's lawyer signed both her forms and those of the "Lovers of Haifa" list run by Laborman Yisrael Savyon. This created a situation in which two lists represented the Labor Party in the elections in the city, in violation of the election law. In response, Kalisch-Rotem and several organizations submitted a petition to the Haifa District Court, but the petition was rejected. In the appeal filed with the High Court of Justice, her appeal was accepted, and it was determined that she was entitled to contend because she acted in good faith.
In the municipal elections of 2018, she defeated veteran mayor Yona Yahav with 56% of the vote. Her faction "Living in Haifa" received four seats on the city council.

Personal life

Kalish has a black belt in karate.
Kalisch-Rotem is married and has two children.