Israel officially swaps foreign minister role between senior Likud members

The Israeli Foreign Affair Ministry held a handover ceremony on Tuesday morning, to officially mark a rotation of the ministerial position from outgoing Minister Eli Cohen to successor Minister Israel Katz. The two senior Likud members will switch portfolios as part of a scheduled agreement.

Cohen presented a long list of achievements made during his tenure in the year 2023, such as an unprecedented number of world leaders who visited Israel to express their solidarity with the Jewish state following the deadly Hamas attack on October 7. 

"Since October 7, the Ministry's employees have been working around the clock, and their intensive work has led to visits by an unprecedented number of world leaders and diplomats," Cohen was quoted as saying.

"Three months into the war, the number of Western countries calling for a ceasefire can be counted on the fingers of one hand," the outgoing foreign minister added.

In addition, the ministry worked to raise international awareness of the hostages held in Gaza, after being abducted by the terrorist organization Hamas. Part of which included delegations of the hostages' families that were accompanied by Israeli diplomats around the world.

Other achievements over the past year included the aforementioned visits by international leaders, the opening of four embassies in Jerusalem, new Israeli embassies inaugurated in Muslim-majority Azerbaijan and Chad, the opening of Omani airspace to flights from Israel, and highlighted the strengthened ties with Turkmenistan, the United Arab Emirates and Sudan.

"Over the past year, we have worked to promote the international status of the State of Israel, strengthen diplomatic relations and advance the country's economic and security interests," Cohen summarized.

The outgoing foreign minister then bade farewell to the ministry's staff and wished success to his incoming successor, Katz.