Miriam Feirberg Ikar is the mayor of Netanya

Netanya

Netanya is a city in the Northern Centre District of Israel, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is located north of Tel Aviv, and south of Haifa between the 'Poleg' stream and Wingate Institute in the south and the 'Avichail' stream in the north.Its of beaches have made the...

, a city in the Centre District

Center District (Israel)

The Central District of Israel is one of six administrative districts, including most of the Sharon region. The district capital is Ramla. It is further divided into 4 sub-districts: Petah Tikva, Ramla, Sharon and Rehovot. The district's largest city is Rishon LeZion. Its population as of 2008 was...

 of Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

. Feirberg is the first (elected) female mayor in Netanya and one of the few women who have served as mayors of Israeli cities.

Born in Acre

Acre, Israel

Acre , is a city in the Western Galilee region of northern Israel at the northern extremity of Haifa Bay. Acre is one of the oldest continuously inhabited sites in the country....

, a city in north Israel. Her father was an officer in the Israel Border Police

Israel Border Police

The Israel Border Police is the gendarmerie and border security branch of the Israel National Police. It is also commonly known by its Hebrew abbreviation Magav , meaning border guard, whilst its members are colloquially known as Magavnikim . Border Guard is often used as the official name of the...

, and her mother was a social work

Social work

Social Work is a professional and academic discipline that seeks to improve the quality of life and wellbeing of an individual, group, or community by intervening through research, policy, community organizing, direct practice, and teaching on behalf of those afflicted with poverty or any real or...

er. She obtained her Bachelor of arts degree in sociology

Sociology

Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...

, criminology

Criminology

Criminology is the scientific study of the nature, extent, causes, and control of criminal behavior in both the individual and in society...

 and social work, and her Masters of arts degree in social work, both from Bar-Ilan University

Bar-Ilan University

Bar-Ilan University is a university in Ramat Gan of the Tel Aviv District, Israel.Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is now Israel's second-largest academic institution. It has nearly 26,800 students and 1,350 faculty members...

. From 1972 to 1988 Feirberg was a social worker and the executive of the social services department in the city hall of Netanya. From 1988 to 1993 she was the head of the welfare and health

Health

Health is the level of functional or metabolic efficiency of a living being. In humans, it is the general condition of a person's mind, body and spirit, usually meaning to be free from illness, injury or pain...

 administration in the city hall. From 1993 to 1998 Feirberg was a city council

City council

A city council or town council is the legislative body that governs a city, town, municipality or local government area.-Australia & NZ:Because of the differences in legislation between the States, the exact definition of a City Council varies...

woman and the culture superior on behalf of the city. Feirberg was elected as mayor of Netanya in 1998, and elected again in 2003, and in 2008.

Feirberg won several prizes, included a prize for efficient management (1990) from the Union of Local Authorities in Israel.

Feirberg was married to Eli Feirberg, and they have a son, Tzafrir, and a daughter, Tal. In 2004 she married Roni Ikar, who was appointed by her, two years earlier, as the CEO of Netanya city hall. Ikar quit his job, and as of today (2006) he is the CEO of Ahuzot Hahof, which operates the Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...

municipality's parking lots.