Israeli Transportation and Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz has been appointed to be the nation’s Foreign Minister until the upcoming elections on April 9.
Katz is already a member of the Security Cabinet, and recently won the second position in the Likud party primaries, after Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein. (It’s technically a third spot on the list of candidates for the party, when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is added to the head of the list.)
The appointment, announced by Netanyahu at Sunday morning’s weekly government cabinet meeting, was made in response to a court order that followed a petition to the High Court of Justice by the Movement for Quality Government. The group opposed Netanyahu holding so many portfolios.
Up to this point, Netanyahu served as foreign minister in addition to his post as prime minister, defense minister and health minister (even though deputy Health Minister Yaacov Litzman is active in the role as health minister.)