# Yakir Yerushalayim

Yakir Yerushalayim (Hebrew: יַקִּיר יְרוּשָׁלַיִם; English: Worthy Citizen of Jerusalem) is an annual citizenship prize in Jerusalem, inaugurated in 1967.
The prize is awarded annually by the municipality of the City of Jerusalem to one or more residents of the city who have contributed to the cultural and educational life of the city in some outstanding way. Prize recipients must be over 65 years old. They are selected by a five-panel committee appointed by the mayor, which reviews the candidates and selects a long-time resident of Jerusalem whose work on behalf of the city or life story is an inspiration to others. The award ceremony is held on Yom Yerushalayim.
Recommendations for the award are submitted by city council members. The final selection among the nominees takes place in the spring.

## Recipients

Note: The table can be sorted alphabetically or chronologically using the icon.
| Year | Name | Description and Comments |
| 1967 | Ben-Zion Dinur | Educator, historian and Israeli government minister |
| 1967 | Samuel Hugo Bergmann | Jewish philosopher |
| 1967 | Naftali Herz Tur-Sinai | Bible scholar, an author, and linguist |
| 1967 | Shlomo Yosef Zevin | Eminent Orthodox rabbi |
| 1968 | Yitzhak Baer | Historian and expert in medieval Spanish Jewish history |
| 1968 | Ludwig Blum | Jerusalem painter |
| 1968 | Berl Locker | Zionist activist and Israeli politician |
| 1968 | Benjamin Mazar | Historian and archaeologist |
| 1968 | Rachel Shazar (née Katznelson) | Political figure, wife of Zalman Shazar, the third President of Israel |
| 1968 | Miriam Yalan-Shteklis | Children's author |
| 1969 | David Benvenisti | Historian and geographer |
| 1969 | William F. Albright | Archaeologist and biblical scholar |
| 1969 | Gershom Scholem | Jewish philosopher and historian |
| 1970 | Simon Halkin | Poet and novelist |
| 1970 | Pinchas Litvinovsky | Artist |
| 1970 | Moshe Rachmilewitz | Physician |
| 1970 | Anna Ticho | Artist |
| 1974 | Mordecai Ardon | Artist |
| 1974 | Moshe Zvi Segal (Rabbi) | Rabbi and prominent member of Etzel and Lechi |
| 1974 | Zev Vilnay | Geographer |
| 1977 | Marc Chagall | Artist |
| 1978 | George Douglas Young | Christian Zionist and Theologian |
| 1980 | Louis Isaac Rabinowitz | Deputy mayor of Jerusalem, rabbi and philologist |
| 1981 | Leo Picard | Geologist and expert in the field of hydrology |
| 1982 | Walter Frankl | Botanist |
| 1984 | Nahman Avigad | Archaeologist |
| 1984 | Nathan J. Saltz | University professor and surgeon |
| 1984 | Reuven Shari | Israeli politician |
| 1988 | Elisheva Cohen | Israel Museum curator |
| 1989 | Marcel-Jacques Dubois | Roman Catholic theologian and professor of religion at Hebrew University of Jerusalem |
| 1989 | Joshua Prawer | Historian |
| 1989 | Zerach Warhaftig | Israeli lawyer and politician |
| 1990 | Israel Eldad (Scheib) | Former Zionist political activist and Revisionist Zionist philosopher |
| 1991 | Yaakov Arnon | Israeli politician |
| 1991 | Reuven Feuerstein | Psychologist and director of the International Center for the Enhancement of Learning Potential |
| 1992 | Yemima Avidar-Tchernovitz | Children's author |
| 1995 | Colette Béatrice Aboulker-Muscat | Natural physician |
| 1995 | Zehava Malkiel | Activist for the International Council of Jewish Women |
| 1995 | Josef Tal | Composer |
| 1996 | Avraham Biran | Archaeologist and excavator of Tel Dan |
| 1997 | Martin Kieselstein | Doctor, assistance to the elderly of Jerusalem |
| 1997 | Jacob Sheskin | Professor at Hadassah Hospital, head of the Hansen Hospital in Jerusalem |
| 2000 | Itzhak Nener | Jurist who served as vice president of Liberal International, cofounded the International Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists, and was elected to the Municipality of Jerusalem |
| 2001 | Menachem Elon | Professor of Law specializing in Mishpat Ivri, justice on the Israeli Supreme Court and as its Deputy President |
| 2002 | Yechiel Grebelsky | Pioneer of Jerusalem stone industry |
| 2002 | Yehuda Kiel | Educator and bible commentator, who headed the Da'at Miqra project |
| 2002 | Meier Schwarz | Professor emeritus for plant physiology and director of the Synagogue Memorial |
| 2002 | Els Bendheim | Born and raised in Amsterdam, contributed to helping medical and educational institutions in Jerusalem |
| 2004 | Miriam Ben-Porat | Former Supreme Court judge and former State Comptroller |
| 2004 | Netiva Ben Yehuda | Author, editor, and former soldier of the Palmach |
| 2005 | Shlomo Merzel | Educator and director of Horev Torah institutions |
| 2006 | Robert (Israel) Aumann | Nobel Prize–winning mathematician |
| 2006 | Emanuel Zisman | Israeli politician and former ambassador |
| 2007 | Geulah Cohen | Israeli politician and journalist |
| 2008 | Yehuda Bauer | Historian and Professor of Holocaust Studies, Hebrew University of Jerusalem |
| 2010 | David Kroyanker | Architect and architectural historian of Jerusalem |
| 2010 | Nahum Rakover | Professor emeritus of Bar-Ilan University and former Deputy Attorney General |
| 2010 | Shulamit Kishik-Cohen | Israeli spy who worked to rescue Jews from Arab countries |
| 2012 | Shlomo Aronson | Landscape Architect and City Planner |
| 2013 | Ruth Kark | Historical geographer, Hebrew University of Jerusalem |
| 2014 | Chaim Yeshayahu Hadari | Rabbi, founding Rosh Yeshiva and current Rosh Yeshiva emeritus of Yeshivat Hakotel in the Old City |
| 2014 | Rachel Bamberger Chalkowski | Chief Midwife at Shaare Zedek and founder of important charity Matan B'Seter Bamb |
| 2016 | Menashe Eichler | Military volunteer |
| 2018 | Gabriel Barkay | World-renowned archaeologist. |
| 2017 | Adin Steinsaltz | Chabad Chasidic rabbi, teacher, philosopher, social critic, author, translator and publisher |
| 2020 | Tamar Peretz | Israeli doctor and researcher, professor at the Hebrew University School of Medicine in Jerusalem. |