The Romans called Lod “City of God”, but thousands of years have passed and apparently God doesn’t reside here anymore. This town, at the very center of Israel, a ten minute drive from Tel Aviv, is a place of failure and fear, teeming with crime, violence and drugs. Lod, where Jews, Christians and Moslems live together (75,000 inhabitants) is an image of governmental and municipal despair. In the last fifteen years it has changed 9 mayors, the municipality has gone bankrupt, and the government has been forced to appoint a non elected committee to manage the lives of the citizens.

In February 2011 a great new hope arrived in Lod in the figure of Meir Nitsan. Nitsan acquiesced the citizens’ committee to act as the appointed mayor. But at the age of 79, will this man have the power to save Lod from itself? Will his talk of a City of Peace for Jews and Arabs bear fruit? For the citizens of Lod, Nitsan may well be their last hope.