Yehuda Ben-Meir

Yehuda Ben-Meir
Date of birth	(1939-07-27) 27 July 1939
Place of birth	New York City, United States
Year of aliyah	1962
Knessets	7, 8, 9, 10
Faction represented in Knesset
1971–1984	National Religious Party
1984	Gesher – Zionist Religious Centre
1984	National Religious Party

Dr Yehuda Ben-Meir (Hebrew: יהודה בן-מאיר‎, born Yehuda Rosenberg on 27 July 1939) is a former Israeli academic and politician who served as a member of the Knesset for the National Religious Party and Gesher – Zionist Religious Centre between 1971 and 1984.

Biography

Born in New York City to Shlomo-Yisrael Ben-Meir, Ben-Meir studued at the Yishuv HaHadash yeshiva in Tel Aviv, Yeshiva University and Columbia University, earning a doctorate in psychology. He made aliyah to Israel in 1962, and worked as a lecturer in psychology at Bar-Ilan University until 1968.

One of the leaders of the Gesher youth faction of the National Religious Party (NRP), he was director of the party's youth bureau, a member of its actions committee and directorate (which he also chaired), as well as being a member of the world secretariat of Mizrachi and Hapoel HaMizrachi.

He was on the NRP list for the 1969 elections, but failed to win a seat. However, he entered the Knesset on 4 April 1971 as a replacement for his deceased father. He was re-elected in 1973, 1977 and 1981. In August 1981 he was appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. In May 1984 he and Zevulun Hammer left the NRP to establish Gesher – Zionist Religious Centre, though both returned to the NRP two weeks later. He lost his seat in the July 1984 elections.

After leaving the Knesset Ben-Meir became a senior lecturer, and also studied law, later becoming a practising lawyer. In 1988 he left the NRP again and was amongst the founders of Meimad.

External links

• Yehuda Ben-Meir on the Knesset website