As Israel continues its military campaign in Gaza, it has also announced a change in its Foreign Ministry. Yisrael Katz, the current Energy Minister and a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, will replace Eli Cohen as the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Cohen will take over Katz’s role as the Energy Minister, but will stay in the Security Cabinet of Israel.
The Government said on Sunday that this change was part of an internal rotation agreement within Likud that was signed last year, when the current Executive was formed. The change needs to be approved by the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament, where the right-wing coalition has 64 out of 120 seats.
Cohen has been the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs since December 29, 2022, when Netanyahu started his current term. Katz has previously served as the Foreign Minister from 2019 to 2020, as well as other ministries such as Intelligence and Finance since 2023.
Israel’s foreign relations have been strained by the war with Hamas, the terrorist group that controls Gaza. The war started on October 7, after Hamas launched a massive attack that involved rockets and the infiltration of about 3,000 terrorists into Israel, who killed around 1,200 people and abducted more than 300 in towns near Gaza. Israel has been conducting a fierce offensive by air, land and sea against Gaza, which has caused a high number of civilian casualties. Countries such as Turkey and Spain have criticized Israel’s actions and questioned its respect for human rights, with South Africa accusing Israel of genocide.
Netanyahu said on Saturday that the war “will last several more months”, without giving any details about Israel’s plan for the post-war in Gaza despite the existance of talks about the matter.
Municipal elections
The war has also affected the municipal elections in Israel, which have been postponed for the second time, to February 27, 2024. The Government hopes that by then, many of the soldiers who are fighting in Gaza will be able to vote.
Netanyahu said on Sunday that “we usually do not hold elections in times of war, but these elections were scheduled”, when his Government agreed to delay the polls again. The elections were originally planned for last October, when the war broke out. They were then postponed to the end of January, but Netanyahu said that “it is very difficult to postpone them for a very long period”. The Government consulted with the Army before deciding on the new postponement, as about seven hundred soldiers would be directly “involved” in the electoral process.
The Government’s decision needs to be approved by the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament, where the right-wing coalition has 64 out of 120 seats.
The last time Israel postponed elections was during the Yom Kippur War of 1973.
