| Michael Melchior | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Date of birth | 31 January 1954 |
| Place of birth | Copenhagen, Denmark |
| Year of aliyah | 1986 |
| Knessets | 15th, 16th, 17th |
| Party | Labor-Meimad |
| Former parties | One Israel |
| Ministerial posts (current in bold) |
Minister of Social & |
Rabbi Michael Melchior (Hebrew: מיכאל מלכיאור, born 31 January 1954) is a Danish-Norwegian rabbi, an Israeli politician and leader of the left-wing religious party Meimad, which he represented in the Knesset.
Background
Melchior was born in Denmark into a family whose members had served as the country's chief rabbis for seven generations. He studied at Yeshivat HaKotel in Jerusalem and in 1980 received rabbinic ordination after which he returned to Scandinavia to serve as Chief Rabbi of the Norwegian Jewish Community. In 1986, he made aliyah to Israel where he served as International Relations Director for the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity.
Melchior became involved in the politics when the Meimad party was formed shortly before the 1999 elections from the movement founded by Yehuda Amital in 1988. The party joined Labor (with which it was friendly, Amital having served as a non-parliamentary minister under Shimon Peres in the early 1990s) and Gesher in forming an alliance called One Israel. In 2000, he hosted the Pope John Paul II's visit to Israel and said he was “very moved” by the Pope's gesture.
The alliance won 26 seats, with Melchior taking the one reserved for Meimad. He was appointed Minister of Social and Diaspora Affairs in Ehud Barak's government. After Barak lost a special election for Prime Minister to Ariel Sharon in 2001, Melchior lost his post, but was appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, though he lost his new job in November 2002 when Labor pulled out of the national unity government Sharon had formed.
He was re-elected to the Knesset in the 2003 elections as Meimad's sole representative, and was appointed Deputy Minister of Education, Culture, and Sport when Labor joined the coalition government in January 2005. In June 2006 he became Deputy Minister of Social and Diaspora Affairs, but again lost his position when Labor pulled out of the coalition.
He retained his seat again in the 2006 elections and chaired the Education, Culture, and Sports Committee and the Social-Environmental lobby in the 17th Knesset.
After Meimad left its alliance with the Labor Party, it ran a joined list with the The Green Movement in the 2009 elections, with Melchior as its head. However, the party failed to cross the electoral threshold, and Melchoir lost his seat.
See also
External links
- Michael Melchior Knesset website
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
