Hanegbi, Elkin, Liberman to share acting PM role while Netanyahu abroad

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has appointed three ministers to share the responsibilities of temporary acting prime minister while he is abroad in Latin America and the US, a spokesman for the Prime Minister’s Office says.

When Netanyahu leaves Israel this afternoon, Regional Cooperation Minister Tzachi Hanegbi will assume the role. But he will be switched on Wednesday by Environmental Protection Minister Ze’ev Elkin when Netanyahu embarks for the United States.

Since coming to power in 2009, Netanyahu has never named a permanent designated replacement to automatically take over leadership of the country if he were unexpectedly indisposed or removed from office by impeachment. Instead, each time he travels abroad Netanyahu names a different senior Likud minister as his temporary stand-in.

Hanegbi and Elkin will respectively be tasked with calling a cabinet meeting if necessary, but with Hanegbi not currently serving in the more exclusive security cabinet, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman has been appointed to call a meeting of that forum during the second leg of the trip, should the need arise.