Members of the new Israeli government

A who’s who of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s team

Aaron Kalman is a former writer and breaking news editor for the Times of Israel

The new Cabinet posing for a photo with President Shimon Peres, March 18. (photo credit: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
The new Cabinet posing for a photo with President Shimon Peres, March 18. (photo credit: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Elections on January 22 yielded a 12-party Knesset, with Benjamin Netanyahu, helming the 31-seat Likud-Beytenu, best-placed to form a coalition.

On March 16, on the final day of the six weeks he was allocated by President Shimon Peres, Netanyahu announced that he had mustered a majority, partnering with Yesh Atid (19 seats), Jewish Home (12 seats) and Hatnua (6 seats).

On March 17, Netanyahu handed out the final posts to his Likud colleagues, completing the government, which was approved by the Knesset and sworn in on March 18. Comprising 22 ministers plus Netanyahu, the Cabinet posed for a traditional photograph with Peres that evening.

Likud:

  • Benjamin Netanyahu – Prime minister (will also hold the Foreign Ministry until the end of Avigdor Liberman’s trial)
  • Moshe Ya’alon – Defense minister
  • Yisrael Katz – Transportation minister
  • Yuval Steinitz – International Relations, Intelligence, and Strategic
    Threats minister
  • Silvan Shalom – Energy, Water, and Negev and Galilee Development minister
  • Gilad Erdan – Home Front Defense and Communications Minister
  • Gideon Sa’ar – Interior minister
  • Limor Livnat – Culture and Sports minister
  • Zeev Elkin – Deputy Foreign minister
  • Danny Danon – Deputy Defense minister
  • Ofir Akunis – Deputy minister, responsible for liaison between the government and the Knesset (switching in 18 months with Tzachi Hanegbi)
  • Tzipi Hotovely – Deputy Transport minister
  • Haim Katz – Chairman, Knesset Labor and Welfare Committee
  • Tzachi Hanegbi – Chairman, Knesset House Committee (switching in 18 months with Ofer Akunis)
  • Miri Regev – Chair, Knesset Interior Committee
  • Yariv Levin – Coalition Chair
  • Yuli Edelstein – Knesset speaker
  • Moshe Feiglin – Deputy Knesset speaker

Yisrael Beytenu:

  • Avigdor Liberman – Head of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee (could return to Foreign Ministry)
  • Yitzhak Aharonovich – Public Security minister
  • Yair Shamir – Agriculture minister
  • Sofa Landver – Absorption minister
  • Uzi Landau – Tourism minister
  • Faina Kirshenbaum – Deputy Interior minister
  • David Regev – Chairman, Knesset Law Committee
  • Orly Levy-Abekasis – Chair, Knesset Committee on Children’s Rights

Yesh Atid:

  • Yair Lapid – Finance minister
  • Shai Piron – Education minister
  • Yael German – Health minister
  • Meir Cohen – Welfare minister
  • Yaakov Peri – Science and technology minister
  • Micky Levy — Deputy Welfare minister
  • Yoel Rozbozov – Chairman, Knesset Immigration and Absorption Committee
  • Aliza Lavie – Chair, Knesset Committee on the Advancement of Women

Jewish Home:

  • Naftali Bennett – Economics and Trade minister (he also holds the Religious Affairs portfolio, and is responsible for Jerusalem and Diaspora affairs)
  • Uri Ariel – Housing minister
  • Uri Orbach – Senior Citizens minister
  • Rabbi Eli Ben Dahan – Deputy Religious Affairs minister
  • Avi Wortzman – Deputy Education minister
  • Nissan Slomiansky – head of the Knesset Finance Committee

Hatnua:

  • Tzipi Livni – Justice minister
  • Amir Peretz – Environmental protection minister
  • Amram Mitzna – Chairman, Knesset Education Committee

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