Silvan Shalom

Silvan Shalom was born in 1958 in Gabès

Shalom was born in Gabès, Tunisia, in 1958. His family moved to Israel in 1959 and settled in Beersheba. In 1964 his father Shimon, a bank manager, was killed during a robbery at his bank.

After serving in the IDF, he studied economics at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and became a certified accountant. He led the university's students' union. He later earned a law degree and a master's degree in public policy at Tel Aviv University.

He worked as a journalist and became a political correspondent for the daily Hadashot. In 1985 he became an adviser to Finance Minister Yitzhak Moda'i. In 1990 he headed the Energy Ministry for a short time and then the Israel Electric Corporation.

Shalom entered the Knesset in 1992. He was Deputy Defense Minister, Minister of Science, and Finance Minister under Ariel Sharon, then Foreign Minister from 2003. Under Benjamin Netanyahu he was Minister for the Development of the Negev and Galilee, and in 2015 Interior Minister and Vice Prime Minister.

In December 2015 he resigned after allegations of sexual harassment, which he denied. In 2016 the Attorney General ended the examination of the claims without charges. He was married to Judy Shalom Nir-Mozes from 1993 to 2017.