Dan Meridor ( he, דן מרידור, born 23 April 1947) is an Israeli politician and minister. A longtime member of the

Likud Likud ( he, הַלִּיכּוּד, HaLikud, The Consolidation), officially known as Likud – National Liberal Movement, is a major centre-right to right-wing political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin and Ariel Sharon ...

party, in the late 1990s he became one of the founders of the Centre Party. He rejoined Likud a decade later, and returned to the Knesset following the

2009 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2009. * Electoral calendar 2009 * 2009 United Nations Security Council election Caribbean * 2009 Antiguan general election * 2009 Aruban general election * 2009 Caymanian constitutional referendu ...

. Meridor served at various times as

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a v ...

and Minister of Intelligence and Atomic Energy in the Israeli Cabinet. In 2014, Meridor succeeded

Avi Primor Avraham "Avi“ Primor ( he, אבי פרימור, born 8 April 1935 in Tel Aviv) is an Israeli publicist and former diplomat. From 1987 to 1993, he served as Ambassador to the European Union, and from 1993 to 1999 as Ambassador to Germany. After ...

as president of the

Israel Council on Foreign Relations The Israel Council on Foreign Relations (ICFR) is an independent, non-partisan forum for the study and debate of foreign policy issues, especially those relating to the State of Israel and the Jewish people. The ICFR publishes a triannual policy a ...

, an institute of international affairs which operates under the auspices of the

World Jewish Congress The World Jewish Congress (WJC) was founded in Geneva, Switzerland in August 1936 as an international federation of Jewish communities and organizations. According to its mission statement, the World Jewish Congress' main purpose is to act as ...

Biography

Born in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

towards the end of the Mandate era, Meridor is the son of

Eliyahu Meridor Eliyahu Meridor ( he, אליהו מרידור, 20 July 1914 – 16 October 1966) was an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Herut and Gahal from 1959 until his death in 1966. Biography Meridor was born Elijhu Wierzbolows ...

, a longtime political associate of

Menachem Begin Menachem Begin ( ''Menaḥem Begin'' (); pl, Menachem Begin (Polish documents, 1931–1937); ''Menakhem Volfovich Begin''; 16 August 1913 – 9 March 1992) was an Israeli politician, founder of Likud and the sixth Prime Minister of Israel. B ...

in the

Irgun Irgun • Etzel , image = Irgun.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = Irgun emblem. The map shows both Mandatory Palestine and the Emirate of Transjordan, which the Irgun claimed in its entirety for a future Jewish state. The acronym "Etzel" i ...

and

Herut Herut ( he, חֵרוּת, ''Freedom'') was the major conservative nationalist political party in Israel from 1948 until its formal merger into Likud in 1988. It was an adherent of Revisionist Zionism. History Herut was founded by Menachem Begin ...

(which he represented in the Knesset), and Ra'anana Meridor, an associate professor of Classics at the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...

. He served in the

armored corps An armoured corps (also mechanized corps or tank corps) is a specialized military organization whose role is to conduct armoured warfare. The units belonging to an armoured corps include military staff, and are equipped with tanks and other armou ...

and then studied law at the

, gaining an LL.B. He then worked as an attorney at the Tel Aviv law firm of Haim Zadok & Co.

Political career

After serving as Cabinet Secretary between 1982 and 1984 (under Begin and

Yitzhak Shamir Yitzhak Shamir ( he, יצחק שמיר, ; born Yitzhak Yezernitsky; October 22, 1915 – June 30, 2012) was an Israeli politician and the seventh Prime Minister of Israel, serving two terms, 1983–1984 and 1986–1992. Before the establishment ...

), Meridor ran for the

Knesset The Knesset ( he, הַכְּנֶסֶת ; "gathering" or "assembly") is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus has complete control of the entirety of the Israeli government (with ...

in the Likud list for the 1984 election. As a freshman member, he was appointed chairman of two legislative subcommittees. He was re-elected in 1988, and was appointed

in Shamir's unity government of 1988–90 and in Shamir's Likud government of 1990–92. He retained his seat in the

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

and 1996 elections, and was appointed

by Binyamin Netanyahu in 1996. After successive clashes with Netanyahu, Meridor left the cabinet in June 1997. His public image suffered during that period, when he was compared to

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

(for his indecisiveness) and to a fraidy cat on a popular TV show, " Hartzufim". In 1998, together with several other Likud and Labor Party members, he co-founded ''Israel in the Centre'', which later became the Centre Party. He was elected as a Centre Party MK in the

1999 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1999. * 1999 electoral calendar Africa * 1999 Algerian presidential election * 1999 Botswana general election * 1999 Beninese parliamentary election * 1999 Central African Republic presidential elect ...

, and was appointed chairman of the Knesset's

Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee The Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee ( he, ועדת חוץ וביטחון) is a permanent Knesset committee which oversees key Foreign and Defense issues of the State of Israel, including the drafting of legislation, supervision over rel ...

. After

Ariel Sharon Ariel Sharon (; ; ; also known by his diminutive Arik, , born Ariel Scheinermann, ; 26 February 1928 – 11 January 2014) was an Israeli general and politician who served as the 11th Prime Minister of Israel from March 2001 until April 2006. S ...

became Prime Minister in 2001, Meridor was made a

Minister without Portfolio A minister without portfolio is either a government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister who does not head a particular ministry. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet w ...

. During his time in the Knesset he also served as the Knesset observer to the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold European Convention on Human Rights, human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. ...

. Meridor lost his seat following the 2003 elections. After leaving the Knesset, Meridor served as international chair of the

Jerusalem Foundation The Jerusalem Foundation ( he, הקרן לירושלים, ''HaKeren LiYerushalayim''; ar, مؤسسة صندوق القدس) is a nonprofit foundation that promotes the development of the city of Jerusalem, by raising funds for social, cultural a ...

. In the run-up to the 2006 elections, Meridor received offers by Labor and

Yisrael Beiteinu Yisrael Beiteinu ( he, יִשְׂרָאֵל בֵּיתֵנוּ, russian: Наш Дом Израиль, lit. ''Israel Our Home'') is a secularist, nationalist right-wing political party in Israel. The party's base was originally secular Russia ...

, but he seemed to harbor hopes of being called to

Kadima Kadima ( he, קדימה, lit=''Forward'') was a centrist and liberal political party in Israel. It was established on 24 November 2005 by moderates from Likud largely following the implementation of Ariel Sharon's unilateral disengagement plan ...

's list. However, his inclusion was vetoed by Ariel Sharon's sons, Gilad and

Omri Sharon Omri Sharon ( he, עמרי שרון, born 19 August 1964) is a former Israeli politician. Sharon served as a member of Knesset between 2003 and 2006. In 2006, he was convicted of corruption and served a prison term. He is the son of former Israeli ...

. He later rejoined Likud, and won seventeenth place on the party's list for the 2009 elections. He returned to the Knesset after the party won 27 seats. In the Netanyahu cabinet formed after that election, Meridor was appointed Minister of Intelligence and Atomic Energy, and Deputy Prime Minister. Meridor ran in the Likud primaries for the 2013 elections, but he failed to win a realistic place on the Likud list.

Family

Meridor's father was

, a member of the

. Meridor's wife Liora is a senior economist, who held several posts in the

Bank of Israel The Bank of Israel ( he, בנק ישראל, ar, بنك إسرائيل) is the central bank of Israel. The bank's headquarters is located in Kiryat HaMemshala in Jerusalem with a branch office in Tel Aviv. The current governor is Amir Yaron. T ...

, the private sector, and government-sponsored panels.Tamir, students union announce cancellation of university strike
Haaretz, 24 February 2007 They have four children. Their son

Shaul Meridor Shaul is a given name and a surname which may refer to: Given name: * Shaul (Hebrew שָׁאוּל Šāʼûl "asked for, prayed for") the first king of Kingdom of Israel * Shaul, a son of Simeon (son of Jacob) in ''Genesis'' * Shaul Amor (1940- ...

is the deputy director of the Allocation Branch at the Ministry of Finance. Dan Meridor has three younger siblings. Haggit Hurvitz is Head of Pediatrics at the

Bikur Holim Hospital Bikur Cholim Hospital ( he, בית החולים ביקור חולים) was a 200-bed general hospital in West Jerusalem, established in the 19th century and closed due to financial difficulties in the second decade of the 21st century. Until then, ...

. Avital Darmon is Director of the Applied Research Initiative in Education.

Sallai Meridor Sallai Meridor ( he, סלי מרידור; born 1955) is an Israeli politician. He was the Israeli Ambassador to the United States between 2005–2009, appointed by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Career Meridor was an aide to Moshe Arens when he wa ...

was Chairman of the

Jewish Agency for Israel The Jewish Agency for Israel ( he, הסוכנות היהודית לארץ ישראל, translit=HaSochnut HaYehudit L'Eretz Yisra'el) formerly known as The Jewish Agency for Palestine, is the largest Jewish non-profit organization in the world. ...

and the

World Zionist Organization The World Zionist Organization ( he, הַהִסְתַּדְּרוּת הַצִּיּוֹנִית הָעוֹלָמִית; ''HaHistadrut HaTzionit Ha'Olamit''), or WZO, is a non-governmental organization that promotes Zionism. It was founded as the ...

from 1999 to 2005, and was appointed as Israeli

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

to the United States in 2006.

References

External links

*
Dan Meridor debates Saeb Erakat at the International Peace Institute, 25 June 2010 (video)

Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor
interviewed by the

British Broadcasting Corporation #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

HARDtalk ''HARDtalk'' is a BBC television and radio programme broadcast on the BBC News Channel, on BBC World News, and on the BBC World Service. Broadcast times and days vary, depending on broadcasting platform and geographic location. ''HARDtalk' ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meridor, Dan 1947 births Living people People from Jerusalem Hebrew University of Jerusalem Faculty of Law alumni Israeli lawyers Herut politicians Centre Party (Israel) politicians Likud politicians Members of the 11th Knesset (1984–1988) Members of the 12th Knesset (1988–1992) Members of the 13th Knesset (1992–1996) Members of the 14th Knesset (1996–1999) Members of the 15th Knesset (1999–2003) Members of the 18th Knesset (2009–2013) Ministers of Finance of Israel Ministers of Justice of Israel Ministers of Intelligence of Israel