The Israeli “Haaretz” reported that the government agreed – today, Sunday – to activate the rotation agreement between the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Energy, whereby Israel Katz was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs, while Eli Cohen took over the Energy and Infrastructure portfolio.
The newspaper indicated that the exchange of ministries depends on the vote, which will also take place later during the plenary session in the Knesset, without specifying the date.
The Israeli media explained that this appointment comes within the framework of a previous agreement between the two ministers regarding the exchange of ministerial portfolios, and this was completed a year after the formation of the current government headed by Benjamin Netanyahu.
With the formation of the government in December 2022, an agreement was reached to alternate between the two ministers, with Cohen assuming the foreign ministry for a year, followed by a two-year period for Katz, and then Cohen returning to take over the foreign ministry for the fourth and final year, on the condition that the government continues its term.
So far, the government has not issued any statement in this context.
Netanyahu adheres to the agreement
Despite the sensitive political timing that the government is going through, Netanyahu adhered to the agreement to end Cohen’s term in the Foreign Ministry, according to what the newspaper wrote.
This development comes after Foreign Minister Eli Cohen acknowledged the government’s responsibility for the attack carried out by the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas movement, on October 7, under the name “Al-Aqsa Flood,” amid calls from the opposition and the Israeli street to dismiss the government immediately. And organizing early elections as a result of its military failure in the war on the Gaza Strip.
Since the “Al-Aqsa Flood”, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza, which, as of Saturday, resulted in the death of 21,672 Palestinians and the injury of 56,165 others, most of them children and women. This war also caused massive destruction of infrastructure and left an “unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe,” according to Palestinian and international reports.
