Eliyahu Meridor ( he, אליהו מרידור, 20 July 1914 – 16 October 1966) was an Israeli politician who served as a member of 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 ...

for

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 ...

and

Gahal Gahal ( he, גח"ל, an acronym for ''Gush Herut–Liberalim'' (Hebrew: ), ''lit.'' ''Freedom–Liberals Bloc'') was the main right-leaning political alliance in Israel, ranging from the centre-right to right-wing, from its founding in 1965 until ...

from 1959 until his death in 1966.

Biography

Meridor was born Elijhu Wierzbolowski on 20 July 1914 in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

(now in Russia), Meridor was educated at a

Tarbut The word Tarbut (תרבות) means "Culture" in Hebrew. The Tarbut movement was a network of secular, Hebrew-language schools in parts of the former Jewish Pale of Settlement, specifically in Poland, Romania and Lithuania. It operated primarily bet ...

school in

Grajewo Grajewo (, yi, גראיעווע, translit=Grayavah) is a town in north-eastern Poland with 21,499 inhabitants (2016). It is situated in the Podlaskie Voivodeship (since 1999); previously, it was in Łomża Voivodeship (1975–1998). It is the ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, before studying law at the

University of Warsaw The University of Warsaw ( pl, Uniwersytet Warszawski, la, Universitas Varsoviensis) is a public university in Warsaw, Poland. Established in 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country offering 37 different fields o ...

. He also became a member of the local branch of Betar. In 1936 he

immigrated Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 ...

, where he worked as a lawyer. He joined 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 was a commander in Jerusalem, as well as being a member of the organisation's command. He was arrested by the British authorities and exiled to Africa. In 1948 he was amongst the founders of the Herut movement, and chaired its Jerusalem branch. In

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

he was elected to the Knesset on the party's list. He was re-elected in

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba (Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 (K ...

and 1965, but died in 1966 at the age of 52. His seat was taken by

Shlomo Cohen-Tzidon Shlomo Cohen-Tzidon ( he, שלמה כהן-צידון, 15 February 1923 - 16 February 2012) was an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Gahal and the Free Centre between 1966 and 1969. Biography Born in Alexandria in Egypt ...

.Knesset Members of the Sixth Knesset
Knesset website Meridor had four children;

Dan Dan or DAN may refer to: People * Dan (name), including a list of people with the name ** Dan (king), several kings of Denmark * Dan people, an ethnic group located in West Africa **Dan language, a Mande language spoken primarily in Côte d'Ivoi ...

, also a politician, Haggit (Hurvitz), 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), Director of the Applied Research Initiative in Education, and Sallai, former Chairman of the Jewish Agency and Israeli ambassador to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

between 2006 and 2009. His grandchildren included Eli Hurvitz, Executive Director of the Trump Foundation, and Shaul Meridor, Deputy Director of Allocation at the Ministry of Finance.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Meridor, Eliyahu 1914 births 1966 deaths People from Grajewo University of Warsaw alumni 20th-century Israeli Jews Russian Jews Israeli lawyers Betar members Irgun members Soviet emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Herut politicians Gahal politicians 20th-century Israeli lawyers Members of the 4th Knesset (1959–1961) Members of the 5th Knesset (1961–1965) Members of the 6th Knesset (1965–1969)