Moshe Nissim (; born 10 April 1935) is a former

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

i politician, minister and

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a Minister (government), government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to th ...

Biography

Moshe Nissim was born in Jerusalem. He studied law at the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...

and served as an Officer of Justice in the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

during his

national service National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...

. He is the son of Rabbi Isaac Nissim, who served as Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel from 1955 to 1973.

Political career

Nissim was first elected to the Knesset in 1959 as a member of the

General Zionists The General Zionists () were a centrist Zionist movement and a political party in Israel. The General Zionists supported the leadership of Chaim Weizmann and their views were largely colored by central European culture. The party was considered ...

. However, he lost his seat in the 1961 elections, and did not reappear in the Knesset until 1969, when he was elected on the list of Gahal (a merger of

Herut Herut () was the major conservative nationalist political party in Israel from 1948 until its formal merger into Likud in 1988. It was an adherent of Revisionist Zionism. Some of their policies were compared to those of the Nazi party. Early y ...

, the

and the Progressive Party). In 1973 Gahal became

Likud Likud (, ), officially known as Likud – National Liberal Movement (), is a major Right-wing politics, right-wing, political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin and Ariel Sharon in an alliance with several right-wing par ...

, with Nissim serving as the party's parliamentary chairman between 1973 and 1977. Following Likud's victory in the 1977 election, Nissim was appointed

Minister without Portfolio A minister without portfolio is a government minister without specific responsibility as head of a government department. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet with decision-making authorit ...

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 ...

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

in January 1978. He became

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

in August 1980, a role he retained until April 1986 when he became Minister of Finance. Following the 1988 elections he reverted to being a Minister without Portfolio, before being appointed Minister of Industry and Trade in March 1990. In June 1990 he was also made

. He lost his place in the cabinet after Likud lost the 1992 elections, and left the Knesset in 1996. In 2017, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appointed Nissim to lead an overhaul of the conversion system in Israel. Nissim proposed removing control of it from ultra-Orthodox-dominated Rabbinate, creating a new state-run Orthodox authority instead. Ultimately, the idea was rejected "due to ultra-Orthodox and national religious opposition."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nissim, Moshe 1935 births Politicians from Jerusalem Hebrew University of Jerusalem Faculty of Law alumni Israeli lawyers Israeli people of Iraqi-Jewish descent General Zionists politicians Liberal Party (Israel) politicians Gahal politicians Likud politicians Living people Ministers of finance of Israel Ministers of justice of Israel Members of the 4th Knesset (1959–1961) Members of the 7th Knesset (1969–1974) Members of the 8th Knesset (1974–1977) Members of the 9th Knesset (1977–1981) Members of the 10th Knesset (1981–1984) Members of the 11th Knesset (1984–1988) Members of the 12th Knesset (1988–1992) Members of the 13th Knesset (1992–1996) Ministers without Portfolio of Israel