Three days after its inauguration, the new government on Wednesday approved the composition of its diplomatic-security cabinet. The government also approved the establishment of a ministerial committee on foreign service appointments.
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Prime Minister Naftali Bennett will preside over the new diplomatic-security cabinet. Its other members include: Prime Minister-designate and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid; Defense Minister Benny Gantz; Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman; Justice Minister Gideon Sa'ar; Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked; Transportation and Road Safety Minister Merav Michaeli; Public Security Minister Omer Bar-Lev; Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz; Education Minister Yifat Shasha-Biton; Housing and Construction Minister Zeev Elkin; Religious Services Minister Matan Kahana.
The ministerial committee on foreign service appointments, meanwhile, will be tasked with vetting candidates for ambassadorial and general consul posts from within the foreign ministry and diplomatic corps, before they are approved by the government.
The committee's new members include Prime Minister-designate and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid; Justice Minister Gideon Sa'ar; Culture and Sports Minister Yechiel Troper; Religious Services Minister Matan Kahana.
Earlier Wednesday, Bennett and Lapid convened their first work meeting together at the Prime Minister's Office.
Also Wednesday, 11 new members of Knesset were sworn in and entered the Knesset within the framework of the controversial Norwegian law – which allows any MK who is appointed to a cabinet post to step down temporarily from the Knesset, thereby permitting the next candidate on the party's slate to enter parliament in their stead. Two more MKs from the Meretz party (Michal Rozin and Gaby Lasky) will be sworn in at a later date after the resignation of the ministers from their party is ratified.
Yamina MK Shirley Pinto became the first deaf member of Knesset after she was sworn into office Wednesday morning using sign language. She replaced Religious Services Minister Matan Kahana under the Norwegian law.
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