Hon. Nir Barkat was born in Jerusalem and lives there with his family to this day. He completed his military service as a company commander in the paratroopers with a rank of major. Barkat holds a BA in computer science from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. During his university years, he and his partners founded a leading Israeli investment fund and became one of the pioneers of Israel’s high-tech industry. In 2008, Barkat won the election for mayor of Jerusalem and held this office until 2018.