Galant resigns from the Knesset
Galant resigns from the KnessetSpokesperson

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is seeking to appoint Yoav Galant as Aliyah and Integration Minister.

The Cabinet ministers will hold a telephone vote to approve the appointment, and then it will be brought for approval in the Knesset plenum.

The news came just hours after Galant announced that he would leave the Kulanu party and run in the Likud primaries for a spot on the party’s list in the upcoming Knesset elections. As such, Galant resigned as Knesset member and Minister of Construction and Housing on behalf of Kulanu.

Galant will continue to serve as a member of the government so that he can remain a member of the political-security cabinet.

Galant met on Monday afternoon in Tel Aviv with the chairman of Kulanu, Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, and informed him of his decision to move to Likud.

Minister Galant said, "In recent years, I have been privileged to serve the Israeli public as a minister and as a member of the Cabinet, after 35 years of service in the IDF. I see myself as continuing to contribute to the State of Israel, primarily in the field of security and defense of the country and its residents, in which I have been engaged all my life.”

"I would like to thank my friend, Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, and the members of the Kulanu faction for the cooperation and joint leadership of the construction and housing sector and for their economic and social activities for the benefit of Israeli society," he added.

International Fellowship of Christians and Jews President Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, which assisted 5,000 people in making aliyah over 2018, congratulated Galant.

"I congratulate my friend Yoav Galant on his recent appointment as Minister of Immigration and Absorption. We wish him much success in his new ministerial position," Rabbi Eckstein said. "Gallant is an army hero who has proven himself to be a leader who genuinely cares for the less fortunate."

Just last week, Netanyahu decided to appoint Minister Yariv Levin as Minister of Aliyah and Integration, in addition to his role as Minister of Tourism and minister who connects between the government and the Knesset.

Levin was appointed Acting Minister of Aliyah and Integration, and therefore the appointment did not require the approval of the Knesset.