Michael Kleiner ( he, מיכאל קליינר; born 4 April 1948) is an Israeli politician and was the leader of

Herut – The National Movement Herut – The National Movement ( he, חרות – התנועה הלאומית, ''Herut – HaTnu'a HaLeumit''), commonly known as just Herut (), was a minor right-wing political party in Israel. Though it saw itself as the ideological successor ...

He is currently the President of the Supreme Court of the Israeli Likud party.

Biography

Michael Kleiner was born in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. His father was Ya'acov Kleiner and his mother was Paula Zweigenhaft (a first cousin of Rabbi Shlomo Zev Zweigenhaft), both of whom were originally from Sosnowiec,

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 ...

. Michael immigrated to Israel with his family in 1951. Kleiner first entered 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 1982 as a

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 Sha ...

parliamentarian, but, upon then-Prime Minister

Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu (; ; born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Israel from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 to 2021. He is currently serving as Leader of the Opposition and Chairman of ...

's relinquishing of

Hebron Hebron ( ar, الخليل or ; he, חֶבְרוֹן ) is a Palestinian. city in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judaean Mountains, it lies above sea level. The second-largest city in the West Bank (after Eas ...

to the Palestinian Authority, Kleiner split off from the Likud, along with

Benny Begin Ze'ev Binyamin "Benny" Begin, (; born 1 March 1943) is an Israeli geologist and politician. He was a member of the Knesset for New Hope, having previously served as a member for Likud and Herut – The National Movement. He is the son of former ...

( Menachem Begin's son) and David Re'em, to establish

, based on the original

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 ...

. The three enjoyed the political support of former Prime Minister

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 ...

and long-time Revisionist author and original Herut Knesset member Shmuel Katz, which greatly legitimized their use of the name Herut. They initially ran for the 15th Knesset as part of the National Union block, together with Tkuma and

Moledet Moledet ( he, מולדת, ''Homeland'') was a minor right-wing political party in Israel. History Moledet was established by Rehavam Ze'evi in 1988. It won two seats in the Knesset elections later that year, taken by Ze'evi and Yair Sprinzak ...

, but after a poor electoral showing of only four seats, Begin resigned from politics, and Kleiner assumed the party's leadership. Eventually breaking off from the National Union, Kleiner and Herut failed to be re-elected in the 2003 election. Michael Kleiner is known for his uncompromising views on retaining territory reclaimed in the 1967

Six-Day War The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states (primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan) from 5 to 10 Ju ...

. Kleiner's Jewish nationalism stems from the teachings of Zev Jabotinsky. Kleiner has consistently acted to thwart the Israeli government's destruction of Jewish communities in the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...

and

West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

, although he has failed to garner the policial support of most religious Israeli settlers. He has not been a member of the 16th or 17th Knessets because his party did not meet the minimum vote requirement. Since 2012, he is a member of the board of directors of the Ghetto Fighters House. He is also a chairman of the board of directors of the building company "Aura Israel". In July 2013, he was elected President of the Supreme Court of Netanyahu's Likud party.Likud court head vows to put law above ideology. Jerusalem Post 07/03/2013
/ref> The Court is the party's highest judicial body in all matters pertaining to its constitution, and party members and divisions are subject to its decisions.

References

External links

Michael Kleiner's official blog
*

Herut {{DEFAULTSORT:Kleiner, Michael 1948 births Living people Israeli activists Leaders of political parties in Israel German emigrants to Israel 20th-century German Jews Herut – The National Movement politicians Members of the 10th Knesset (1981–1984) Members of the 12th Knesset (1988–1992) Members of the 14th Knesset (1996–1999) Members of the 15th Knesset (1999–2003)