Meir Porush ( he, מֵאִיר פֹּרוּשׁ, born 11 June 1955) is an Israeli politician who has 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 the

Haredi Haredi Judaism ( he, ', ; also spelled ''Charedi'' in English; plural ''Haredim'' or ''Charedim'') consists of groups within Orthodox Judaism that are characterized by their strict adherence to ''halakha'' (Jewish law) and traditions, in oppos ...

Agudat Yisrael Agudat Yisrael ( he, אֲגוּדָּת יִשְׂרָאֵל, lit., ''Union of Israel'', also transliterated ''Agudath Israel'', or, in Yiddish, ''Agudas Yisroel'') is a Haredi Jewish political party in Israel. It began as a political party re ...

faction of

United Torah Judaism United Torah Judaism ( he, יהדות התורה, ''Yahadut HaTora''), often referred to by its electoral symbol Gimel (), is a Haredi, religious conservative political alliance in Israel. The alliance, consisting of Agudat Yisrael and Degel HaT ...

in several spells since 1996. He served as the Deputy Minister of Education.

Biography

Meir Porush was 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 ...

. His father Rabbi

Menachem Porush Menachem Porush ( he, מנחם פרוש, 2 April 1916 – 22 February 2010) was an Israelis, Israel politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Agudat Yisrael and its alliances between 1959 and 1975, and again from 1977 until 1994. ...

(1916–2010) was one of the longest-serving Knesset members. Meir was educated in a

yeshiva A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are st ...

. After leaving yeshiva, he served in the IDF, and supports further Haredi participation in military service. Porush lives in Jerusalem with his wife and twelve children.

Political career

Before entering the Knesset, Porush was as a member of the Jerusalem City Council for thirteen years. He also served as deputy mayor of Jerusalem. He ran unsuccessfully in the 1983 Jerusalem mayoral election as the

nominee. He ran for the mayoralty again in

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker runs ...

, but was again unsuccessful. He was first elected to the Knesset in the 1996 elections as an Agudat Yisrael candidate on the United Torah Judaism list, and was appointed Deputy Minister of Housing in Binyamin Netanyahu's first government. Porush retained his seat in the 1999 elections, and chaired the Knesset inquiry into financial problems of local councils. After Ariel Sharon won a special election for Prime Minister in 2001, Porush was appointed Deputy Minister of Housing and Construction. He retained his seat in the 2003 elections. In 2005, he caused controversy by saying that then PM Ariel Sharon reminded him of Benito Mussolini. He was re-elected again in 2006, and ran for

Mayor of Jerusalem The Mayor of the City of Jerusalem is head of the executive branch of the political system in Jerusalem. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property, most public agencies, and enforces all city and state laws within Jerusa ...

in 2008, losing to the Likud politician Nir Barkat, by 50% to 42%. Porush retained his Knesset seat in the 2009 elections, and was appointed Deputy Minister of Education in Netanyahu's second government. However, he resigned on 6 February 2011, as part of a seat rotation agreement. He was re-elected again in

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

and 2015, and was appointed Deputy Minister of Education in the Netanyahu's fourth government formed in May 2015. In March 2016, Porush was reprimanded by the Knesset ethics committee for saying that the "

Women of the Wall Women of the Wall (Hebrew: נשות הכותל, ''Neshot HaKotel'') is a multi-denominational Jewish feminist organization based in Israel whose goal is to secure the rights of women to pray at the Western Wall, also called the Kotel, in a fashi ...

" should be "thrown to the dogs". Porush responded by saying that if "Women of the Wall" refrained from eating non-kosher food, he would apologize to them. In May 2016, he resigned from the Knesset to allow Ya'akov Asher to take his place as part of the rotation agreement between the parties in United Torah Judaism.Meir Porush Resigns, Yaakov Asher to Fill His Knesset Seat
Matzav, 22 May 2016 He returned to the Knesset in 2019, but resigned his seat in June 2020 after being appointed Deputy Minister of Education, allowing Yitzhak Pindros to take his seat.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Porush, Meir 1955 births Living people Agudat Yisrael politicians Deputy Mayors of Jerusalem Deputy ministers of Israel Haredi rabbis in Israel Israeli Jews Jewish Israeli politicians Members of the 14th Knesset (1996–1999) Members of the 15th Knesset (1999–2003) Members of the 16th Knesset (2003–2006) Members of the 17th Knesset (2006–2009) Members of the 18th Knesset (2009–2013) Members of the 19th Knesset (2013–2015) Members of the 20th Knesset (2015–2019) Members of the 21st Knesset (2019) Members of the 22nd Knesset (2019–2020) Members of the 23rd Knesset (2020–2021) Members of the 24th Knesset (2021–2022) Members of the 25th Knesset (2022–) Politicians from Jerusalem Rabbinic members of the Knesset United Torah Judaism leaders