Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday named former IDF general Yoav Galant as the next defense minister in his burgeoning cabinet.
Galant, a senior member of Netanyahu's conservative Likud party, was pinned for the role a day before the incoming Israeli leader was set to swear in his record sixth government before parliament.
The former IDF commander will split the role with Religious Zionist party chief Bezalel Smotrich, who will take charge of matters pertaining to civil administration and coordination of government activities in the West Bank.
Outgoing Defense Minister Benny Gantz, himself a retired army general, congratulated Galant. "Yoav, I wish you good luck in maintaining Israel's security," he said.
Galant, 64, enlisted in the IDF in 1976 and served and commanded the Navy's elite Shayetet 13 Unit, sometimes colloquially dubbed the Israeli Navy SEALs.
He was honorably discharged from the military in 1984 but returned after a short stint as a private citizen and completed Navy officer training before being transferred to the IDF ground forces where he filled several high command positions.
In 2010, Galant was named a leading candidate for chief of staff but the appointment was ultimately canceled due to allegations that he had illegally seized public lands near his home in Moshav Amikam.
Galant entered politics in January 2015, joining the newly founded Kulanu party and was named construction and housing minister after getting elected to the Knesset.
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Then-prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, and then-education minister Yoav Galant, join first graders at the start of the school year in the West Bank settlement of Mevo Horon, September 1, 2020
(Photo: GPO)
At the end of 2018, he joined Likud and served as aliyah and integration minister. He later served as education minister for about a year under the Netanyahu-Gantz government.
Meanwhile, Likud lawmakers voted unanimously to name MK Amir Ohana as the party's candidate for Knesset speaker, and if approved, he will become the first openly gay person to hold the post.
However, Ohana will not oversee Knesset hearings touching on LGBTQ+ issues, and asked to be exempt from votes on such matters.
Ohana's appointment as speaker of the Israeli parliament comes seven years after Likud's ultra-Orthodox allies Shas and United Torah Judaism boycotted his swearing-in as a member of Knesset.
Netanyahu also met with former foreign minister Israel Katz who is set to resume the position he last held in 2020.
Additionally, former minister Tzachi Hanegbi was named on Tuesday as the next national security adviser.