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Dan Meridor

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Template:MKs Dan Meridor (Hebrew: דן מרידור, born 23 April 1947) is an Israeli politician and former minister. A longtime member of the Likud party, in the late 1990s he became one of the founders of the Centre Party. He rejoined Likud in the early 2000s, and returned to the Knesset following the 2009 elections.

Background

Born in Jerusalem towards the end of the Mandate era, Meridor is the son of Eliahu Meridor, a longtime political associate of Menahem Begin's since the Irgun and the original Herut party, and Raanana Meridor, also a political activist.[1]

He studied law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, gaining an LL.B, before beginning work as an attorney.

Political career

After serving as Cabinet Secretary between 1982 and 1984 (under Begin and Yitzhak Shamir), Meridor ran for the Knesset 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 Minister of Justice in Shamir's unity government of 1988-90 and in the right-wing cabinet of 1990-92. He retained his seat in the 1992 and 1996 elections, and was appointed Minister of Finance 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 (for his indecisiveness) and to a fraidy cat on a popular TV show, "Hartzufim".[2]

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, and was appointed chairman of the Knesset's foreign affairs and defense committee. After Ehud Barak's relinquishing the post of Prime Minister, Meridor was made a Minister without Portfolio by new Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in 2001.

Meridor lost his seat following the 2003 elections. During his time in the Knesset he also served as the Knesset observer to the Council of Europe.

After leaving the Knesset, Meridor served as international chair of the Jerusalem Foundation. He took part in the Winograd Commission that investigated Israel's actions in the 2006 Lebanon War.

In the run-up to the 2006 elections, Meridor received offers by Labor and Yisrael Beiteinu, but he seemed to harbor hopes of being called to Kadima's list. However, his inclusion was vetoed by Ariel Sharon's sons, Gilad and Omri Sharon.[3] 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.

Meridor has been mentioned as a leading candidate to head the Defense Ministry in a Likud led government. [4]

Family

Meridor's wife Liora is a senior economist, who held several posts in the Bank of Israel, the private sector, and government-sponsored panels.[5] They have four children.

Meridor's younger brother Sallai Meridor was Chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel and the World Zionist Organization from 1999-2005, and was appointed as Israeli ambassador to the United States in 2006.

References

  1. ^ The prince of tides Haaretz
  2. ^ בובות הוודו של ממשלות ישראל Globes, 14 August 2001 Template:He icon
  3. ^ The end of a beautiful friendship Haaretz, 2006
  4. ^ [1]
  5. ^ Tamir, students union announce cancellation of university strike Haaretz, 24 February 2007

Dan Meridor on the Knesset website

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