Meir Yitzhak Halevi ( he, מאיר יצחק-הלוי, born 1953) is an Israeli

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

who served as a member of the

Knesset The Knesset ( he, הַכְּנֶסֶת ; "gathering" or "assembly") is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus has complete control of the entirety of the Israeli government (with ...

for the New Hope party. He previously served as mayor of Eilat between 2003 and 2021. In addition, he serves as a deputy in the Ministry of Education.

Biography

Halevi was born in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

, in 1953, and is of Yemenite-Jewish descent, as his grandfather was the chief rabbi of

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

. Halevi fought in the

Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was an armed conflict fought from October 6 to 25, 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by E ...

Political career

He moved to Eilat in 1978 and ran the community centre and management college in the city. He was elected to the city council in 1993, and ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 1998. Between 1998 and 2003 he served as opposition leader on the council. He won the municipal election in 2003, and following the formation of

Kadima Kadima ( he, קדימה, lit=''Forward'') was a centrist and liberal political party in Israel. It was established on 24 November 2005 by moderates from Likud largely following the implementation of Ariel Sharon's unilateral disengagement pl ...

, Halevi joined the new party. In the 2008 elections he won 50% of the vote to retain office. He gained notoriety for his "City Without Crime" program. He left

Likud Likud ( he, הַלִּיכּוּד, HaLikud, The Consolidation), officially known as Likud – National Liberal Movement, is a major centre-right to right-wing political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin and Ariel Sha ...

and joined New Hope in 2020.

References

External links

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List of Eilat's mayors
Eilat Municipality {{DEFAULTSORT:Halevi, Meir Yitzhak 1953 births Living people 20th-century Israeli military personnel Israeli Jews Israeli officers Israeli people of the Yom Kippur War Israeli people of Yemeni-Jewish descent Jewish Israeli politicians Jewish military personnel Kadima politicians Mayors of places in Israel Members of the 24th Knesset (2021–2022) New Hope (Israel) politicians People from Eilat Politicians from Jerusalem Israeli city councillors