Yehuda Ben-Meir
Dr. Yehuda Ben-Meir is a former Israeli academic and politician who served as a member of the Knesset for the National Religious Party and Gesher – Zionist Religious Centre between 1971 and 1984.Biography
Born in New York City to Shlomo-Yisrael Ben-Meir, Ben-Meir studied at the Yishuv HaHadash yeshiva in Tel Aviv, Yeshiva University, and Columbia University, earning a doctorate in psychology. He made aliyah to Israel in 1962, and worked as a lecturer in psychology at Bar-Ilan University until 1968.
One of the leaders of the Gesher youth faction of the National Religious Party, he was director of the party's youth bureau, a member of its actions committee and directorate, as well as being a member of the world secretariat of Mizrachi and Hapoel HaMizrachi.
He was on the NRP list for the 1969 elections, but failed to win a seat. However, he entered the Knesset on 4 April 1971 as a replacement for his deceased father. He was re-elected in 1973, 1977, and 1981. In August 1981, he was appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. In May 1984, he and Zevulun Hammer left the NRP to establish Gesher – Zionist Religious Centre, though both returned to the NRP two weeks later. He lost his seat in the July 1984 elections.
After leaving the Knesset, Ben-Meir became a senior lecturer, and also studied law, later becoming a practising lawyer. In 1988, he left the NRP again, and was amongst the founders of Meimad, a left-wing religious Zionist party.
