Meir Sheetrit
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Meir Sheetrit (Hebrew: מאיר שטרית) (born: 1948) is an Israeli politician, a member of the Knesset, and cabniet, as Minister of Construction and Housing, and Acting Justice Minister.
Sheetrit was born in Morocco but in 1957 his family immigrated to Israel. Sheetrit holds a Master's degree in Public Policy from Bar-Ilan University. Sheetrit is married and is a father to two children. He began his political career in 1974 when he was elected as the mayor of the city of Yavne and served until 1987. Sheetrit was elected to the Israeli Knesset in 1981 and served as a member until 1988 and again from 1992 to the present. In 1988 he was elected as treasurer of the Jewish Agency for Israel and served in this postiion until 1992. In 1996 Sheetrit was elected as the chairman of the political coalition and of the Likud fraction in the Knesset. In 1998 he was appointed by then Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu Finance Minister. In 2001 he was appointed Justice Minister. In 2003, he was appointed as Treasury Minister (a Minister in the Finance Ministry; in effect, a type of Deputy Finance Minister), led by then Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who was spearheading a sweeping and highly unpopular policy of privatization reform, supported by Sheetrit. He was appointed Transportation Minister in 2004, and later served as minister of Education, Culture and Sport until 2006.
With the formation of the Kadima party in 2005, headed by Ariel Sharon, Sheetrit quit the Likud and joined the newly formed party. He was elected to the 17th Knesset in 2006 on the Kadima ticket. As of May 4, 2006, he is the Minister of Construction and Housing. As of August 23, he the Acting Justice Minister, following Haim Ramon's resignation on 18 August over an Indecent assault indictment.
| Preceded by: Limor Livnat |
Education Minister of Israel 2006 |
Succeeded by: Yuli Tamir |
