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Netanyahu names Yisrael Katz acting foreign minister

Netanyahu named Yisrael Katz as acting foreign minister on Sunday.

By World Israel News Staff

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu named Transportation and Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz as Acting Foreign Minister. He made the announcement at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting, on Sunday.

Netanyahu, who holds numerous portfolios, including defense minister, foreign minister, health minister and minister of immigration and absorption, said last week that that he would appoint a new foreign minister in his stead.

Netanyahu made the decision after a petition submitted by the Movement for Quality Government in Israel argued that he held too many crucial ministerial portfolios than an individual could handle.

“We regret that the prime minister dragged his feet for such a long period, and acted only after pressure from a legal process,” the group said in response to Katz’s appointment.

“We congratulate Minister Katz and wish him success in his important position, and hope that the next government will not demand the practice of concentrating such great powers in the hands of  one person once more,” it said.

The petition came two months after Netanyahu himself promised to appoint a foreign minister in his place, a decision that he didn’t act on until the petition to Israel’s High Court of Justice was submitted, Mako news reports.