Ministry of Defense (Israel)

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Ministry of Defense
משרד הביטחון
MisradHabitahonSymbol.svg
Ministry of Defense (Israel)
Matcal Tower, Tel Aviv-Yafo, 2009.jpg
Ministry of Defense headquarters
Agency overview
Formed1948
Jurisdiction Government of Israel
Headquarters Matcal Tower, HaKirya, Tel Aviv
32°4′30.97″N34°47′24.55″E / 32.0752694°N 34.7901528°E / 32.0752694; 34.7901528
Annual budget56 billion New Shekel
Minister responsible
Website www.mod.gov.il

The Ministry of Defense (Hebrew : משרד הביטחון, romanized: Misrad HaBitahon, lit.  'Ministry of Security', acronym: Hebrew : משהב"ט) of the government of Israel, is the governmental department responsible for defending the State of Israel from internal and external military threats. Its political head is the defense minister of Israel, and its offices are located in HaKirya, Tel Aviv.

Contents

The Ministry of Defense oversees most of the Israeli security forces, including the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Israel Military Industries (IMI), and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). [1]

The ministry was established when the British Mandate of Palestine ended, and the British Army departed Palestine and the State of Israel was formed. This ended the rag-tag militia units during British rule and gave way to the formal defense of the Jewish state.[ not in body ]

Structure

Minister of Defense

Minister of defence flag Flag of Israel Minister of Defence.svg
Minister of defence flag

The defense minister of Israel (Hebrew : שר הביטחון, romanized: Sar HaBitahon, lit.  'Minister of Security') [a] heads the ministry. The post is considered to be the second most important position in the Israeli cabinet, and usually has a deputy minister. The defense minister is also a permanent member of the Security Cabinet.

Due to the great importance of the defense portfolio, prime ministers have often held the position in addition to their prime ministerial duties; eight of the twenty defense ministers to date were also serving prime ministers. Six of them (Moshe Dayan, Yitzhak Rabin, Ehud Barak, Shaul Mofaz, Moshe Ya'alon and Benny Gantz) are also former Chiefs of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces.

Amongst the duties of the post, defense ministers can request administrative detention. Because of the intensive work and the tension between the political echelon to the military echelon, frequently disagreements and difference of opinion are created between the defense minister and the chief of staff.

List of ministers

#MinisterPartyGovernmentsTerm startTerm endNotes
1 David Ben-Gurion Mapai P, 1, 2, 3, 4 14 May 194826 January 1954Serving Prime Minister
2 Pinhas Lavon Mapai 5 26 January 195421 February 1955
– David Ben-Gurion Mapai 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 21 February 195526 June 1963Serving Prime Minister
3 Levi Eshkol Mapai, Alignment 11, 12, 13 26 June 19635 June 1967Serving Prime Minister
4 Moshe Dayan Rafi, Labor Party, Alignment 13, 14, 15, 16 5 June 19673 June 1974
5 Shimon Peres Alignment 17 3 June 197420 June 1977
6 Ezer Weizman Likud 18 20 June 197728 May 1980
7 Menachem Begin Likud 18 28 May 19805 August 1981Serving Prime Minister
8 Ariel Sharon Likud 19 5 August 198114 February 1983
– Menachem Begin Likud 19 14 February 198323 February 1983Serving Prime Minister
9 Moshe Arens Likud 19, 20 23 February 198313 September 1984
10 Yitzhak Rabin Alignment 21, 22, 23 13 September 198415 March 1990
11 Yitzhak Shamir Likud 23 15 March 199011 June 1990Serving Prime Minister
– Moshe Arens Likud 24 11 June 199013 July 1992
– Yitzhak Rabin Labor Party 25 13 July 19924 November 1995Serving Prime Minister, assassinated
– Shimon Peres Labor Party 25, 26 4 November 199518 June 1996Serving Prime Minister
12 Yitzhak Mordechai Likud 27 18 June 199625 January 1999
– Moshe Arens Likud 27 27 January 19996 July 1999
13 Ehud Barak One Israel 28 6 July 19997 March 2001Serving Prime Minister
14 Binyamin Ben-Eliezer Labor Party 29 7 March 20012 November 2002
15 Shaul Mofaz Likud 29, 30 4 November 20024 May 2006Not an MK at start of term in office
16 Amir Peretz Labor Party 31 4 May 200618 June 2007
– Ehud Barak Labor Party, Independence 31, 32 18 June 200718 March 2013Not an MK at start of term in office
17 Moshe Ya'alon Likud 33, 34 18 March 201322 May 2016
– Benjamin Netanyahu Likud 34 22 May 201630 May 2016Serving Prime Minister
Acting minister
18 Avigdor Lieberman Yisrael Beiteinu 34 30 May 201618 November 2018 [4]
19 Benjamin Netanyahu [5] [6] Likud 34 18 November 2018 [4] 8 November 2019Serving Prime Minister
20 Naftali Bennett New Right 34 8 November 201917 May 2020
21 Benny Gantz Blue and White 35, 36 17 May 202029 December 2022Serving Alternate Prime Minister
22 Yoav Gallant Likud 37 29 December 20225 November 2024
23 Israel Katz Likud 37 5 November 2024

Deputy ministers

#MinisterPartyGovernmentsTerm startTerm end
1 Shimon Peres Mapai 9, 10, 11, 12 21 December 195925 May 1965
2 Zvi Dinstein Alignment 13 17 January 19665 June 1967
3 Mordechai Tzipori Likud 18, 19 28 June 197710 October 1983
4 Michael Dekel Likud 21, 22 3 December 198521 November 1988
5 Ovadia Eli Likud 24 8 July 199113 July 1992
6 Mordechai Gur Labor Party 25 4 August 199216 July 1995
7 Ori Orr Labor Party 26 27 November 199518 June 1996
8 Silvan Shalom Likud 27 9 July 19976 July 1999
9 Efraim Sneh One Israel 28 5 August 19997 March 2001
10 Dalia Rabin-Pelossof Labor Party 29 7 March 20011 August 2002
11 Weizman Shiry Labor Party 29 12 August 20022 November 2002
12 Ze'ev Boim Likud
Kadima 		30 5 March 200318 January 2006
– Efraim Sneh Labor Party 31 30 October 200618 June 2007
13 Matan Vilnai Labor Party 31, 32 2 July 200718 January 2011
14 Danny Danon Likud 33 18 March 201315 July 2014
15 Eli Ben-Dahan The Jewish Home 34 19 May 20153 October 2019 [7]
16 Alon Schuster Blue and White 36 28 June 202129 December 2022

Directors General

Ministry Of Defense MisradHaBitahon.jpg
Ministry Of Defense
#Director GeneralTerm startTerm end
1 Levi Eshkol 19481948
2 Eliezer Peri 19481949
3 Pinchas Sapir 19491951
4 Ze'ev Schind  [ he ]19511952
5 Shimon Peres 1952 [b] 1959
6 Asher Ben-Natan 1959 [c] 1965
7 Moshe Kasti  [ he ]19651970
8 Yeshayahu Lavie  [ he ]19701972
9 Yitzhak Ironi  [ he ]19721975
10 Pinchas Zusman  [ he ]19751978
11 Yosef Ma'ayan  [ he ]19781981
12 Avraham Ben Yosef  [ he ]19811982
13 Aharon Bet-Halachmi  [ he ]19821983
14 Menachem Maron  [ he ]19831986
15 David Ivry 19861996
16 Ilan Biran  [ he ]19961999
17 Amos Yaron 19992005
18 Jacob Toren  [ he ]20052006
19 Gabi Ashkenazi 20062007
20 Pinchas Buchris  [ he ]20072010
21 Ehud Shani 20102013
22 Dan Harel 20132016
23 Udi Adam 20162020
24 Amir Eshel 20202023
25 Eyal Zamir 20232025
– Itamar Graff (acting) 20252025
26 Amir Baram 2025present

Notes

  1. ↑ Although the "Security Minister" (שר הביטחון) title is translated in English as "Defense Minister", in Hebrew, the Defense Ministers of other countries are more often referred to as "Defense Minister" (Hebrew: שר ההגנה, Sar HaHagana).
  2. ↑ Served in an acting capacity 1952-1953
  3. ↑ Served in an acting capacity 1959-1960

References

  1. ↑ "Homepage". Ministry of Defense (in Hebrew).
  2. ↑ "האגף לייצוא ביטחוני (סיבט)". Ministry of Defense.
  3. ↑ "SIBAT- International Defense Cooperation". Ministry of Defense.
  4. 1 2 Raoul Wootliff (18 November 2018). "After Jewish Home anger, Netanyahu says he'll reappoint deputy defense minister". The Times of Israel . Retrieved 18 November 2018.
  5. ↑ "Israel's Netanyahu will take over defence job for now after minister resigns -spokesman". Channel NewsAsia. Archived from the original on 18 November 2018. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
  6. ↑ "Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu takes over defence job as coalition falters". The Straits Times. 16 November 2018.
  7. ↑ "Current Knesset Members". Knesset. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
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