Yariv Levin
Yariv LevinHezki Baruch

Tourism Minister Yariv Levin is expected to be elected as Knesset Speaker on Thursday after the Likud faction voted unanimously in favor of his nomination on Tuesday evening.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said, "I thank Minister Yariv Levin and the Likud faction who approved his appointment as Speaker of the Knesset."

"Minister Levin has done an excellent job as Minister of Tourism and in working for the establishment of the government and the coalition, and I thank him from the bottom of my heart for the loyalty and partnership over the years, for the State of Israel and for the sake of the Likud. I am convinced that Minister Yariv Levin will do an excellent job in his new role," Netanyahu added.

Minister Yariv Levin thanked Netanyahu "from the bottom of my heart for putting his trust in me in his selection of me as his candidate for Knesset Speaker. I also thank the Likud members in the Knesset who chose me as the party's candidate for the post."

"It will be a great privilege for me to serve as Speaker of the Knesset and head the legislature, to strengthen the status of the Knesset and to do this important mission with the good of the State of Israel, all the citizens of Israel and the Land of Israel before my eyes," Levin added.