Politicsמיכאל מלכיאור

Michael Melchior

Michael Melchior is an Orthodox rabbi and Israeli politician who led the Meimad party, served as a Knesset member and minister, and founded civic and interfaith organizations.

born 1954Leading the Meimad partyChief Rabbi of NorwayFounding the Meitarim school networkThe Alexandria interfaith process

Born: 31 January 1954, Copenhagen
Occupation: politician, rabbi
Party: Meimad

Michael Melchior was born in 1954 in Copenhagen

Melchior was born in Copenhagen in 1954 into a family with seven generations of rabbis in Denmark. His father, Rabbi Bent Melchior, was chief rabbi of Denmark, and his grandfather Marcus Melchior helped Danish Jews escape during the Nazi occupation.

He studied at Yeshivat Hakotel in Jerusalem and was ordained as a rabbi in 1980. He then returned to Scandinavia and served as rabbi of Oslo and Chief Rabbi of Norway, a title he still holds. In 1986 he moved to Israel and settled in Jerusalem.

He entered politics with Meimad in 1995 after the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin and later chaired its managing committee. Elected to the Knesset in 1999 on the One Israel list, he became Minister of Social and Diaspora Affairs, and in 2001 he became Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. In the 17th Knesset he chaired the Education, Culture and Sports Committee.

In 2009 he led the Green Movement and Meimad list, which did not win a seat. He founded civic groups including the Meitarim school network and Mosaica, and in 2002 he helped launch an interfaith summit in Alexandria. In 2010 he led a campaign for taxing natural gas profits.