Yehuda Ben-Meir

Yehuda Ben-Meir was born in 1939 in New York City

Yehuda Ben-Meir was born Yehuda Rosenberg in New York City in 1939. His father, Shlomo-Yisrael, was one of the heads of the National Religious Party. He studied at the Yishuv HaHadash yeshiva and at Yeshiva University.

He earned a doctorate in psychology from Columbia University. He moved to Israel in 1962 and taught psychology at Bar-Ilan University.

He was a leader of the party's youth faction and chaired its directorate. He entered the Knesset in 1971 after his father died, and was re-elected in 1973, 1977 and 1981. In August 1981 he became Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs under Yitzhak Shamir.

Early in his career he held hawkish views and identified with Gush Emunim, but his positions later became dovish. In May 1984 he and Zevulun Hammer left the party to form Gesher, then returned soon after. He lost his seat in the July 1984 elections.

After leaving the Knesset he studied law and became a lawyer. In 1988 he helped found the Meimad party, and later was a research fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University. He was married to Dvora, had 4 children and died in 2025.