Northern city of Safed gets its first traffic light

‘We cannot remember a revolution like this in the city,’ says mayor of 700-year center of Jewish mysticism

Known as the home of numerous Jewish luminaries in its 700-year history, the northern city of Safed is set to get its first traffic light.

The new installation, expected to start operating in the coming days, will serve Safed’s 40,00 residents as it moderates traffic at the Birya Junction at the northern entrance of the city.

Safed has been the center of Jewish mysticism and Kabbalah since the 16th century. Its Old City is made up of small cobbled alleyways and steep, winding stairways.

Safed mayor Shuki Ohana, who was elected in October 2018, said the traffic light, and the general upgrade of the Birya Juntion, represented a major step forward for the historic city.

“We cannot remember a revolution like this in the city compared to what is taking place now,” Ohana told Kan television news.

“We have managed without a traffic light but we are now moving forward… to a city like one like no other in the world,” he said.