Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee

The Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee (

State of Israel, including the drafting of legislation, supervision over related government ministries and the approval of their budgets. It is regarded as one of two most important Knesset committees (the other being the Finance Committee

).

Activity

The majority of the committee's activity takes place in its subcommittees, while the committee as a whole largely serves as a media stage for top defense decision makers. The committee approves extensive subcommittee-drafted

leaked, its members became obliged to sign a secrecy affidavit. The media has limited access to committee meetings (at selected occasions) and no access to that of its subcommittees. The government is obligated to bring to the approval of the committee various emergency activities, including ones related to or that are likely to result in war. The committee also undertakes personal hearings

for key defense and State decision makers as well as hearings for appreciable defense projects.

During 2020, the Committee took an active role in shaping the legal framework authorizing Shabak to engage in location tracking of coronavirus carriers.^[1] Eventually, the committee drafted "the Law on Authorization to Assist in the National Effort to Reduce the Spread of the Novel Coronavirus and to Promote the Use of Civilian Technology to Trace Those Who Have Been in Close Contact with Patients (Temporary Order), 5780-2020", which was enacted by the Knesset on July 21, 2020.^[2] Under its provisions, the committee may veto a government declaration to use Shabak for coronavirus contact tracing.^[3]

Chairmen

Chairman	Took office	Left office		Ref.
Argov, MeirMeir Argov (1905–1963)	1949	1963	Mapai
Hacohen, DavidDavid Hacohen (1898–1984)	1963	1969	Alignment
Zadok, Haim YosefHaim Yosef Zadok (1913–2002)	1969	1974	Alignment
Navon, YitzhakYitzhak Navon (1921–2015)	1974	1977	Alignment
Arens, MosheMoshe Arens (1925–2019)	1977	1982	Likud
Ben-Elissar, EliyahuEliyahu Ben-Elissar (1932–2000)	1982	1984	Likud
Eban, AbbaAbba Eban (1915–2002)	1984	1988	Alignment
Ben-Elissar, EliyahuEliyahu Ben-Elissar (1932–2000)	1989	1992	Likud
Orr, OriOri Orr (born 1939)	1992	1995	Labor
Merom, HagaiHagai Meirom (born 1946)	1995	1996	Labor
Landau, UziUzi Landau (born 1943)	1996	1999	Likud
Meridor, DanDan Meridor (born 1947)	1999	2001	Center Party (Israel)
Magen, DavidDavid Magen (born 1945)	2001	2002	Likud
Ramon, HaimHaim Ramon (born 1950)	2002	2003	Labor
Steinitz, YuvalYuval Steinitz (born 1958)	2003	2006	Likud
Hanegbi, TzachiTzachi Hanegbi (born 1957)	2006	2010	Kadima
Mofaz, ShaulShaul Mofaz (born 1948)	2010	2012	Kadima
Bar-On, ROniRoni Bar-On (born 1948)	2012	2013	Kadima
Lieberman, AvigdorAvigdor Lieberman (born 1958)	2013	2013	Yisrael Beiteinu
Edelstein, YuliYuli Edelstein (born 1958)	2013	2014	Likud
Elkin, Ze'evZe'ev Elkin (born 1971)	2014	2015	Likud
Levin, YarivYariv Levin (born 1969)	2015	2015	Likud
Hanegbi, TzachiTzachi Hanegbi (born 1957)	2015	2016	Likud
Dichter, AviAvi Dichter (born 1952)	2016	2019	Likud
Ashkenazi, GabiGabi Ashkenazi (born 1954)	2019	2020	Blue and White
Hauser, ZviZvi Hauser (born 1968)	2020	2021	Derekh Eretz (political faction)
Barbivai, OrnaOrna Barbivai (born 1962)	2021	2021	Yesh Atid
Ben-Barak, RamRam Ben-Barak (born 1958)	2021	2022	Yesh Atid
Gallant, YoavYoav Gallant (born 1958)	2022	2022	Likud	^[4]
Edelstein, YuliYuli Edelstein (born 1958)	2023	Incumbent	Likud	^[5]