Dan Meridor is the Lamont Visiting Lecturer at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. He was Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Intelligence in the Israeli government from 2009-2013. From 2004-2006, Mr. Meridor was appointed by the Minister of Defense to be Chairman of the Committee on Israel's Defense Doctrine. Mr. Meridor served as Chairman of the Jerusalem Foundation from 2003-2008 and was a Senior Fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute. Additionally during this period, Meridor served as Deputy Chairman of the Board of the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS).
From 2001-2003, Mr. Meridor served as a Minister in the Israeli government in charge of strategic affairs, and was a member of the Inner Cabinet. From 1999-2001, he served as the Chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. Mr. Meridor was Israel’s Minister of Finance from 1996-1997. In this role, he initiated sweeping reforms in the economy through massive budget cuts, liberalization and privatization. From 1988-1992, Mr. Meridor was Israel’s Minister of Justice. He promoted human rights legislation, and enacted Israel's first (and so far - only) constitutional laws on human rights, creating the "constitutional revolution," empowering the Supreme Court with judicial review over Knesset laws. From 1982-1984, Mr. Meridor served as the Secretary of the Cabinet under Prime Minister Menahem Begin and Yitzhak Shamir. In the Knesset, Mr. Meridor served on the Committee of Foreign Affairs and Defense, the Committee of Constitution, Law & Justice, and the Ethics Committee.
Mr. Meridor is presently the Chairman of the Board of Bezalel Academy of Art and Design and President of the Israel Council on Foreign Relations.
