Dan Meridor

(1947 - )

Dan Meridor was born in Jerusalem in 1947, and holds a law degree from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

He served in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) as a tank commander in the 1967 Six Day War and continued in the IDF reserves as a Captain.

A lawyer by profession, he practiced law in Jerusalem from 1973-82.

He served as Cabinet Secretary under Prime Ministers Menachem Begin (1982-83) and Yitzhak Shamir (1983-84). In 1984, he was elected to the Knesset.

In the 11th Knesset (1984-88), he was a member of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee.

From 1988-92 he served as Minister of Justice and member of the Inner Cabinet.

In the 13th Knesset (1992-96), he was a member of the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee. In June 1996, Dan Meridor was appointed Minister of Finance, a position he held until his resignation in June 1997. In the 15th Knesset, he chaired the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee (until August 2001).

In August 2001, Dan Meridor was appointed Minister without Portfolio, responsible for national defense and diplomatic strategy in the Prime Minister's Office. Meridor lost his seat in the Knesset in 2003 when the Center Party did not recieve enough votes.

In 2009, Meridor rejoined the Likud and was election back to Knesset through the Likud Party list. He was subsequently appointed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Intelligence and Atomic Energy. Meridor did not contest the 2013 elections and retired from politics.

He is married to economist Dr. Leora Meridor. They have four children.

Sources: Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Wikipedia; Photo used with permission of the Knesset