18 Facts About Silvan Shalom

Zion Silvan Shalom is an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Likud between 1992 and 2015.

Silvan Shalom held several prominent ministerial positions, including Vice Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior.

Silvan Shalom's family moved to Israel in 1959, settling in the city of Beersheba in the Negev.

On 3 November 1964, when Silvan Shalom was six years old, his father Shimon Silvan Shalom, a bank manager and a member of the Betar movement, was killed during the course of a bungled bank robbery.

At the age of 18, Silvan Shalom was inducted into the Israel Defense Forces and rose to the rank of sergeant.

Silvan Shalom then studied law and public policy at Tel Aviv University.

Silvan Shalom received an LLB and was certified as a lawyer, and a received a Master's degree in public policy.

In 1985, Silvan Shalom was appointed adviser to the Finance Minister, Yitzhak Moda'i, who was later appointed Justice Minister.

In 1992, at the age of 34, Silvan Shalom was 34th on the Likud list for the 13th Knesset, but the party received only 33 seats in the elections.

When former Defense Minister Moshe Arens resigned, Silvan Shalom succeeded him as an MK.

Silvan Shalom acted to allow all students to be accepted once others left their academic institutions at the end of their first year.

Silvan Shalom's bill increased awareness about the problem and, as a result, Israeli colleges were established to expand access to academic studies.

Silvan Shalom was the chairman of the subcommittee regarding the capital market, chairman of the subcommittee of energy and a member of the economic affairs committee.

Silvan Shalom was the runner-up to Netanyahu for party leadership in December 2005 and was granted the second spot on the Likud list to the 2006 general election and thus did not compete in its 11 January 2006 primaries.

Silvan Shalom was placed seventh on the party's list for the 2009 elections.

One woman said she was once summoned to a Jerusalem hotel room where Silvan Shalom was staying, only to find him waiting for her on the bed, wearing nothing but a bathrobe.

Silvan Shalom had been considered a front-runner for the post before the allegation was made.

From 1993 to 2017 Silvan Shalom was married to Israeli talk show host Judy Silvan Shalom Nir-Mozes.