Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee

The Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee (Hebrew: ועדת חוץ וביטחון) is a permanent Knesset committee which oversees key Foreign and Defense issues of the 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).

Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, 1949

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 delegated legislation in areas of defense, emergency preparedness, emergency recruitment of human resources, Shabak special operations, allocation of emergency equipment, the deployment of the Home Front, and other security and intelligence related tasks. The committee is presented with summaries by the top decision makers in areas of foreign affairs, defense, and intelligence, including by the Prime Minister, the Foreign Affairs Minister, the Minister of Defense, and the heads of Mossad, Shabak, and Aman. The committee's chair, who reports on much of the country's defense activities, is considered one of the most senior figures in the Security Forces and subsequently, it is one of the most sought after positions in the Knesset. The committee's plenary sessions are secret and the meetings of some of its subcommittees are top secret. Consequently, its protocols remain largely unpublished. After repeated instances in which the contents of meetings were 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.^{[citation needed]}

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

Portrait	Chairman	Took office	Left office	Party		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]

Subcommittees

Subcommittee for Legislation Subcommittee for Foreign Affairs and Public Diplomacy Subcommittee for Intelligence and Secret Services Subcommittee for Personnel in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF)

Subcommittee for Security Perception Subcommittee for the State of Alert and Field Security Subcommittee for the Examination of Home-Front Readiness Subcommittee on Lawfare

Overseen bodies

The Prime Minister's Office, including Mossad and Shabak The Ministry of Defense, including the IDF, the Malmab (Ministry's security arm), and the military industries and development bodies

The Foreign Ministry The National Security Council The Ministry of Public Security and the Police (on security matters)