Michael Kleiner (; born 4 April 1948) is an Israeli politician and was the leader of Herut – The National Movement He is currently the President of the Supreme Court of the Israeli Likud party.

Biography

Michael Kleiner was born in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. His father was Ya'acov Kleiner and his mother was Paula Zweigenhaft (a first cousin of Rabbi Shlomo Zev Zweigenhaft), both of whom were originally from Sosnowiec,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. Michael immigrated to Israel with his family in 1951. Kleiner first entered the Knesset in 1982 as a Likud parliamentarian, but, upon then-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's relinquishing of

Hebron Hebron (; , or ; , ) is a Palestinian city in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Hebron is capital of the Hebron Governorate, the largest Governorates of Palestine, governorate in the West Bank. With a population of 201,063 in ...

to the

Palestinian Authority The Palestinian Authority (PA), officially known as the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), is the Fatah-controlled government body that exercises partial civil control over the Palestinian enclaves in the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, ...

, Kleiner split off from the Likud, along with Benny Begin (

Menachem Begin Menachem Begin ( ''Menaḥem Begin'', ; (Polish documents, 1931–1937); ; 16 August 1913 – 9 March 1992) was an Israeli politician, founder of both Herut and Likud and the prime minister of Israel. Before the creation of the state of Isra ...

's son) and David Re'em, to establish Herut – The National Movement, based on the original Herut. The three enjoyed the political support of former Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir and long-time Revisionist author and original Herut Knesset member Shmuel Katz, which greatly legitimized their use of the name Herut. They initially ran for the 15th Knesset as part of the National Union block, together with Tkuma and Moledet, but after a poor electoral showing of only four seats, Begin resigned from politics, and Kleiner assumed the party's leadership. Eventually breaking off from the National Union, Kleiner and Herut failed to be re-elected in the 2003 election. Michael Kleiner is known for his uncompromising views on retaining territory reclaimed in the 1967

Six-Day War The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...

. Kleiner's Jewish nationalism stems from the teachings of Zev Jabotinsky. Kleiner has consistently acted to thwart the Israeli government's destruction of Israeli settlements in the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...

and

West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

, although he has failed to garner the political support of most religious Israeli

settlers A settler or a colonist is a person who establishes or joins a permanent presence that is separate to existing communities. The entity that a settler establishes is a Human settlement, settlement. A settler is called a pioneer if they are among ...

. He has not been a member of the 16th or 17th Knessets because his party did not meet the minimum vote requirement. Since 2012, he is a member of the board of directors of the Ghetto Fighters House. He is also a chairman of the board of directors of the building company "Aura Israel". In July 2013, he was elected President of the Supreme Court of Netanyahu's Likud party.Likud court head vows to put law above ideology. Jerusalem Post 07/03/2013
/ref> The Court is the party's highest judicial body in all matters pertaining to its constitution, and party members and divisions are subject to its decisions.

References

External links

Michael Kleiner's official blog
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Herut {{DEFAULTSORT:Kleiner, Michael 1948 births Living people Israeli activists Leaders of political parties in Israel German emigrants to Israel 20th-century German Jews Herut – The National Movement politicians Members of the 10th Knesset (1981–1984) Members of the 12th Knesset (1988–1992) Members of the 14th Knesset (1996–1999) Members of the 15th Knesset (1999–2003)