Michael Melchior

Michael Melchior (Hebrew מיכאל מלכיאור; born January 31, 1954 in Copenhagen) is a Danish- Norwegian rabbi and Israeli politicians of the moderate religious party Meimad.

Melchior comes from a Danish family of rabbis, studied in Jerusalem and spent 30 years as chief rabbi of Norway. Since 1986 he has lived mainly in Israel. He leads the Meimad since 1996 and was elected to the Knesset in 1999. 2003 and 2006 he was re-elected. From August 1999 to March 2001 he was Minister of Social Affairs and the Diaspora affairs, then under Shimon Peres March 2001 to November 2002 Deputy Foreign Minister. In the successor government under Ariel Sharon, he was first deputy minister of Education, Culture and Sport ( January to June 2006) and Deputy Minister of Education, Culture and Sport and then deputy from June to November 2005, Minister of Social Affairs and affairs of the Diaspora.