JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel’s Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz was appointed interim foreign minister, a position he will hold until after the April 9 national elections.
Katz, of the ruling Likud Party, was appointed to the position on Sunday by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has held the portfolio and acted as foreign minister since the formation of the government in May 2015.
Netanyahu was forced to relinquish a portfolio after a challenge to Israel’s Supreme Court by an Israeli NGO, the Movement for Quality Government.
Netanyahu also serves as defense minister, a position he has held since Avigdor Lieberman quit the position in November 2018, and serves as health minister, since Yaakov Litzman is only willing to be identified as a deputy though he runs the ministry.
Katz recently took the second spot behind Knesset speaker Yuli Edelstein in the Likud primaries, and has aspirations to be prime minister and party chairman after Netanyahu’s retirement.
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