Earlier this week, my wife and I were invited by the daughter of former Israeli Mayor Teddy Kollek to view a special screening of Teddy’s Museum, a new film about Kollek’s dream to establish an iconic national museum in Jerusalem that would rival the most prestigious cultural institutions of the world.

As the executive assistant to Prime Minister David Ben Gurion, Teddy broke ground on the Israel Museum in 1961 and insisted that construction stay on schedule. His secretary, during a 1991 interview, recalled, “I worked very hard at the time and there was a lot of pressure. A sign on the museum site that was changed every day showed the number of days until completion. Once I came with a group when there was no road yet. Five hours later, when we left, there was a road. That’s Teddy’s pace. He got everyone to work according to his pace.”

On May 11, 1965, the Israel Museum—affectionately referred to as the “Holy Temple of Israeli culture” by some—officially opened its doors to the general public.

That same year Teddy Kollek became mayor of Jerusalem. During his 28 years in office, Kollek did more to build up and beautify the city than any other Israeli leader. In addition to the Israel Museum, Kollek also had a hand in establishing the Jerusalem Foundation, the Kahn Theater, the Jerusalem Theater and the Jerusalem Cinemathèque—the venue that hosted the documentary screening this past week.

Israel’s former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin once said Teddy Kollek was the greatest builder of Jerusalem since Herod the Great. In the film, Kollek was described as a man of vision—and action.

After learning more about Teddy Kollek’s love for Jerusalem and his tireless work to build up and beautify Israel’s capital city, it’s easy to see why he became such close friends with Herbert W. Armstrong—another great visionary who shared Kollek’s diligent work ethic, his appreciation of fine culture—and his passion for Jerusalem.

The story of Mr. Armstrong’s connection with Kollek, however, begins with another man who also harbored the same love of Jerusalem. Immediately after Israel captured East Jerusalem and the West Bank during the Six-Day War of 1967, an archaeologist named Benjamin Mazar was granted permission to begin excavating the area just south of the Temple Mount. Not long after that, Mr. Armstrong was made aware of the tremendous significance of this dig.

It led to a 50-50 partnership in December 1968 between Ambassador College and Hebrew University on what became known as the Temple Mount excavations. Dr. Mazar had turned down several other major colleges for this joint participation. Instead he teamed up with Mr. Armstrong and a very small liberal arts college in Southern California!

It was this Jerusalem dig that opened the way for Mr. Armstrong to work with Mayor Kollek on many other projects around Jerusalem, like the International Cultural Center for Youth and the Liberty Bell Park in downtown Jerusalem. Both places erected stone markers in honor of Mr. Armstrong’s sizable contributions to the development of Jerusalem.

In 1971, six years after becoming mayor, Kollek visited Mr. Armstrong at the Ambassador College campus in Pasadena, California. Two weeks later, the mayor hosted Ambassador College’s founder and chancellor at Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

The discussion during these two meetings revolved around city planning for the future of Jerusalem. God’s servant—an American from California—actually took part in discussions about Jerusalem’s future!

Maybe the mayor had been inspired by the beauty and splendor of the Ambassador campus in Pasadena. The campus had already twice won a distinguished award for the most beautiful campus in the United States. In viewing the campus, maybe the mayor envisioned what Jerusalem could become!

Whatever the motivation, we can safely say that both Teddy Kollek and Herbert Armstrong were intensely passionate in their support for the eternal city—the city of Jerusalem. Their love for Jerusalem was the common ground for these two builders, architects and visionaries. And Jerusalem is what joined them together in an endearing friendship that lasted almost two decades.

One of my favorite stories regarding Mr. Armstrong and Teddy Kollek is from Kollek’s reelection day in 1983, when he was waiting to hear whether or not he could continue serving as the keeper of Jerusalem. Mr. Armstrong, who was visiting the mayor at the time, raised his glass to toast the mayor’s reelection bid.

Teddy responded to Mr. Armstrong’s kind gesture by saying, “Jerusalem at this time does not have a prophet—you [Mr. Armstrong] will have to be our prophet.”

Mr. Armstrong followed that by saying he planned to spend a thousand years in Jerusalem—to which the mayor quipped, “And I’ll be happy to be mayor!”

Mayor Kollek literally spent his life on Jerusalem. It was his city—the only one for him. Mr. Armstrong viewed Jerusalem as the greatest city in the world—the eternal capital of the universe! This spirit to establish, preserve and protect Jerusalem was reflected in a simple and symbolic way when Teddy, at one point, presented Mr. Armstrong with a gold and silver sculpture of David conquering Goliath.

“All your life, you have been a fighter of giant lies, and of giant untruths,” the mayor said. “And as you regard yourself a descendant of David, and rightly so, here in the City of David, we would like to present you with this symbolic sculpture.”

At Mr. Armstrong’s death in 1986, Mr. Kollek sent his condolences: “One could only be deeply impressed by his vast efforts to promote understanding and peace among peoples. His good deeds were felt in many corners of the world. In Jerusalem his care and concern can be seen in the many projects he undertook: the archaeological excavations uncovering the history of millennia, the children’s playground and activities he helped sponsor, the dedicated work of the Ambassador College students. His visits to Jerusalem were always very special and I was privileged to share these with him. He helped foster the goals we set to ensure the future of Jerusalem, King David’s city.”

He then offered this deeply personal sentiment: “There have been very few people that I have known that I so enjoyed speaking with and so greatly admired and valued their counsel.”

Had the situation been reversed, and it was Mr. Armstrong commenting on the life of Teddy Kollek, who died in 2007, I’m sure Mr. Armstrong would have expressed many of those same sentiments.

For more about Teddy Kollek and his friend—and the present-day work of the Armstrong International Cultural Foundation—download our free booklet A Warm Friend of Israel.