San Diego, CA (special) -- Mayor Eli Moyal jokes that perhaps there is "something in the air" in his northern Negev city of Sderot that "makes people musicians." During a recent visit to San Diego, he said his city of 23,000 residents has produced four rock bands and three ethnic bands that are well known throughout Israel.

The bands bear names like TPIX and Tanara, and Hebrew equivalents of such monikers as "Church Building" and "Rising Star," the mayor said. They play both rock n' roll and "ethnic music," which frequently mixes Israeli themes with Moroccan rhythms. Evidently, the air hasn't affected Moyal, however: "I don't play, I just listen." Besides the bands, Sderot is known to other Israelis because it is the home town of Amir Peretz, the chairman of Israel's Histadrut (Labor) organization. That Moyal would brag about such a thing tells a lot about his relaxed attitude toward politics. He is member of the Likud party, arch rival of Labor. But politics is one thing; city pride another.

Mayor Eli Moyal of Sderot

Moyal toured San Diego from July 17-21 with five other mayors from Israel, three of them fellow Jews and two of them Arabs. As all were members of parties considered more liberal than the Likud, Moyal good-naturedly heckled his colleagues during meetings with San Diegans.

For example, when Khalil Kasim, mayor of the Arab city of Tira, told attendees of a reception at the home of Lucy Goldman that he is a member of the council of the Labor Party, Moyal promptly interjected: "Nobody is perfect!" And when Zvika Ma-Yafit, chairman of the local council of the Jewish community of Oranit, said that he did not consider himself a politician, Moyal asked with mock incredulity, "You too?"

Wearing a souvenir hat bearing the insignia of the U.S. Congress, Moyal also showed his serious side from time-to-time during the San Diego visit which was sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and coordinated locally by the Interntional Visitors Council and the American Jewish Committee.

He said that for his city, absorption of immigrants is a major preoccupation. Many of the immigrants are from the former Soviet Union and they require economic assistance, social programs and educational opportunities, he said.

Sderot lies very close to Ibim, the student village which has been adopted by the United Jewish Federation of San Diego County. Students from Ibim attend classes in the community college of Sderot. 

Shai Harmesh, mayor of the Shaar Hanegev group of communities that includes kibbutzim, moshavim and the student village, and another famous resident of the area -- former Israeli Defense Minister and Foreign Minister Ariel Sharon -- often meet along with Moyal to discuss economic development ideas. A particular emphasis is joint projects with the Palestinians living across the nearby Gaza Strip border.

Although he is a member of the Likud, which is identified with opposition to the peace process, Moyal says he nevertheless is an advocate for "peace in our area -- there must be peace."

Joint economic projects, including tourism and industry, can help promote peace, he said.