Likud Reserves Knesset Seats for Three Ministers Including Defense and Foreign Affairs

The Likud party announced overnight between Monday and Tuesday that alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's eight reserved Knesset slots, the party's secretariat is set to approve reserved seats for three additional ministers. These include Defense Minister Israel Katz, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar, and party center chairman Minister Haim Katz. The party statement explained that Israel Katz's reserved seat is intended to allow him to focus on security matters rather than politics at this time. It also noted that the party's internal court ruled last week to reserve a seat for the defense minister, who was expected to be near the top of the list anyway, to enable him to concentrate on security duties. Gideon Sa'ar's placement is part of the unity agreement with the "Statehood Right" party, while Haim Katz's reservation is due to his role as party center chairman. These ministers join businessman Oren Dobronski, whose reserved seat was announced by Netanyahu the previous day.