Michael Malchieli

Michael Malchieli (מִיכָאֵל מַלְכִּיאֵלִי, born 7 October 1982) is an Israeli politician who currently serves as the Minister of Religious Affairs in the thirty-seventh government, and is a member of the Knesset for the Sephardi ultra-Orthodox Shas party. Malchieli also served as the acting Minister of Interior between January and April of 2023.

Biography
Malchieli was a pupil at the Hebron Yeshiva, and later gained a BA in education and Israel Heritage from Bayit VeGan College and studied for a master's in public policy at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He taught at Boys Town Jerusalem between 2005 and 2009, and was Rosh yeshiva at the Tiferet Zvi yeshiva from 2008 until 2013.

Malchieli is married, with five children, and lives in the East Jerusalem settlement of Neve Yaakov, where he was chairman of the neighbourhood council from 2012 to 2013.

Political career
In 2013, he was elected to Jerusalem City Council, where he held the portfolio for ultra-Orthodox sports. He was also chief of staff to Minister of Religious Services David Azulai. He was placed eleventh on the Shas list for the 2015 Knesset elections. Although the party won only seven seats, he entered the Knesset on 2 November 2016 as a replacement for party leader Aryeh Deri, who resigned from the Knesset.