Meir Porush

Meir Porush (Hebrew: מֵאִיר פֹּרוּשׁ‎, born 11 June 1955) is an Israeli politician who has served as a member of the Knesset for the ultra-Orthodox Agudat Yisrael faction of United Torah Judaism in several spells since 1996. He is currently the Deputy Minister of Education.

Meir Porush
Date of birth (1955-06-11) 11 June 1955
Place of birthJerusalem, Israel
Knessets14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23
Faction represented in Knesset
1996–1999United Torah Judaism
1999Agudat Yisrael
1999–2005United Torah Judaism
2005–2006Agudat Yisrael
2006–2008United Torah Judaism
2008–2009Agudat Yisrael
2009–2011United Torah Judaism
2013–2016United Torah Judaism
2019–United Torah Judaism

Biography

Meir Porush was born in Jerusalem. His father Rabbi Menachem Porush (1916–2010) was one of the longest-serving Knesset members. Meir was educated in a yeshiva. After leaving yeshiva, he served in the IDF, and supports further Haredi participation in military service.[1] Porush lives in Jerusalem with his wife and twelve children.

Political career

Before entering the Knesset, Porush was as a member of the Jerusalem City Council for thirteen years. He also served as deputy mayor of Jerusalem.

He was first elected to the Knesset in the 1996 elections as an Agudat Yisrael candidate on the United Torah Judaism list, and was appointed Deputy Minister of Housing in Binyamin Netanyahu's first government.

Porush retained his seat in the 1999 elections, and chaired the Knesset inquiry into financial problems of local councils. After Ariel Sharon won a special election for Prime Minister in 2001, Porush was appointed Deputy Minister of Housing and Construction.

He retained his seat in the 2003 elections. In 2005, he caused controversy by saying that then PM Ariel Sharon reminded him of Benito Mussolini.[2] He was re-elected again in 2006, and ran for Mayor of Jerusalem in 2008, losing to the Likud politician Nir Barkat, by 50% to 42%.[3]

Porush retained his Knesset seat in the 2009 elections, and was appointed Deputy Minister of Education in Netanyahu's second government. However, he resigned on 6 February 2011, as part of a seat rotation agreement.[4] He was re-elected again in 2013 and 2015, and was appointed Deputy Minister of Education in the Netanyahu's fourth government formed in May 2015.

In March 2016, Porush was reprimanded by the Knesset ethics committee for saying that the "Women of the Wall" should be "thrown to the dogs".[5] Porush responded by saying that if "Women of the Wall" refrained from eating non-kosher food, he would apologize to them.[6]

In May 2016, he resigned from the Knesset to allow Ya'akov Asher to take his place as part of the rotation agreement between the parties in United Torah Judaism.[7] He returned to the Knesset in 2019, but resigned his seat in June 2020 after being appointed Deputy Minister of Education, allowing Yitzhak Pindros to take his seat.

References
  1. Ilan Ben Zion (12 February 2013). "Draft Haredim who don't learn, says ultra-Orthodox MK". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
  2. Zvi Zrahiya (30 November 2005). "MK Meir Porush: Sharon reminds me of Italian dictator Mussolini". Haaretz. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
  3. "Secularist 'wins Jerusalem vote'". BBC News. 12 November 2008. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
  4. Jonah Mandel (7 February 2011). "Eichler sworn in as an MK instead of Porush". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
  5. Knesset ethics panel reprimands haredi lawmaker who slammed Women of the Wall JTA, 29 March 2016
  6. Ethics Committee reprimands MK Porush for his remarks against ”Women of the Wall” Knesset, 29 March 2016
  7. Meir Porush Resigns, Yaakov Asher to Fill His Knesset Seat Matzav, 22 May 2016
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