Tayseer Abu-Sneineh

UCLG-MEWA President
Term: (2022-2025) | (2025-2028)

He is a Palestinian citizen born in Al Khalil (Hebron) in October 1954. He lived and grew up in Al-Khalil, near the Al-Ibrahim Mosque. He studied and finished high school in Al Khalil. Later, he moved to Amman, Jordan, for his Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics. He also has a second Bachelor’s in religious studies from the University of Jordan. Upon his return to Palestine, he worked as a mathematics teacher in Al-Khalil’s schools and subsequently began working at the Ministry of Al-Waqf. Five years later, he was appointed General Manager of the General Administration in the Ministry of Waqf in Al-Khalil. In 2017, he ran for the first election in Al Khalil, the largest municipality in Palestine, and was elected as the Mayor of Al Khalil. Following his re-election as the mayor of Al Khalil in March 2022, he was elected as UCLG-MEWA President for the 2022-2025 term in May 2022 at the UCLG-MEWA Congress 2022.

Although he was arrested and is currently imprisoned in Israel, he was re-elected as UCLG-MEWA President at the 2025 Congress held in Konya in October 2025, and continues to serve for the 2025–2028 term, demonstrating solidarity and unity with the Palestinian cause.