Dan Meridor was born in Jerusalem in 1947, and holds a law degree from the
Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
He served in the Israel Defense Forces as a tank commander in
the 1967 Six Day War and continued in the IDF reserves as a
Captain.
A lawyer by profession, he practiced law in Jerusalem from 1973-82.
He served as Cabinet Secretary under Prime Ministers Menachem Begin (1982-83)
and Yitzhak Shamir (1983-84). In 1984, he was elected to the Knesset.
In the 11th Knesset (1984-88), he was a member of the Knesset Foreign
Affairs and Defense Committee and the Constitution, Law and Justice
Committee.
From 1988-92 he served as
Minister of Justice and member of the Inner Cabinet.
In the 13th Knesset (1992-96), he was a member of the Knesset
Constitution, Law and Justice Committee. In June 1996, Dan Meridor was appointed Minister of Finance, a position he held until his resignation in June 1997.
In the 15th Knesset, he chaired the Foreign
Affairs and Defense Committee (until August 2001). He was not elected to the 16th Knesset (January 2003).
Dan Meridor served as Minister without Portfolio, responsible for national defense and diplomatic strategy in the Prime Minister's Office from August 2001 until February 2003.
Meridor has been a Knesset observer to the Council of Europe and has published
articles in academic journals.
He is married to economist Dr. Leora Meridor. They have four children.