The Ministry of Defense ( he, מִשְׂרַד הַבִּטָּחוֹן, Misrad HaBitahon, Ministry of Security, acronym: he, משהב"ט) of the government of

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, is the governmental department responsible for defending the State of Israel from internal and external military threats. Its political head is the Defense Minister of Israel, and its offices are located in

HaKirya HaKirya, or The Kirya ( he, הַקִּרְיָה, ''lit.'' The Campus), is an area in central Tel Aviv, consisting of an urban military base north of Kaplan Street, and a civilian area south of it. HaKirya contains the Tel Aviv District's govern ...

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

. The Ministry of Defense oversees most of the Israeli security forces, including the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...

(IDF),

Israel Military Industries , former_name = Israel Military Industries , type = State-owned enterprise , industry = Arms industry , fate = Acquired by Elbit Systems , successor = Elbit Systems Land , founded = , founder = , defunct = , hq_location_city = Ramat ...

(IMI), and

Israel Aerospace Industries Israel Aerospace Industries (Hebrew: התעשייה האווירית לישראל ''ha-ta'asiya ha-avirit le-yisra'el'') or IAI (תע"א) is Israel's major aerospace and aviation manufacturer, producing aerial and astronautic systems for both mi ...

(IAI). The MOD was established when the

British Mandate of Palestine British Mandate of Palestine or Palestine Mandate most often refers to: * Mandate for Palestine: a League of Nations mandate under which the British controlled an area which included Mandatory Palestine and the Emirate of Transjordan. * Mandatory P ...

ended, and the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

departed

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

and the State of Israel was formed. This ended the rag-tag militia units during British rule and gave way to the formal defense of the Jewish state.

Minister of Defense

The Defense Minister of Israel ( he, שַׂר הַבִּטָּחוֹן, ''Sar HaBitahon'', ''lit.'' Minister of Security) heads the ministry. The post is considered to be the second most important position in the Israeli cabinet, and usually has a Deputy Minister. The Defense Minister is also a permanent member of the Security Cabinet.

Benny Gantz Benjamin Gantz ( he, בִּנְיָמִין "בֵּנִי" גַּנְץ, Transliterated: ; born 9 June 1959) is an Israeli politician and retired army general serving as the minister of Defense since 2020 and deputy prime minister of Israel sin ...

of Blue and White was sworn in on 17 May 2020 as Israel's new Minister of Defense. Due to the great importance of the defense portfolio,

prime ministers A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is no ...

have often held the position in addition to their prime ministerial duties; eight of the twenty Defense Ministers to date were also serving Prime Ministers. Six of them (

Moshe Dayan Moshe Dayan ( he, משה דיין; 20 May 1915 – 16 October 1981) was an Israeli military leader and politician. As commander of the Jerusalem front in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (1953–1958) du ...

Yitzhak Rabin Yitzhak Rabin (; he, יִצְחָק רַבִּין, ; 1 March 1922 – 4 November 1995) was an Israeli politician, statesman and general. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974–77, and from 1992 until h ...

Ehud Barak Ehud Barak ( he-a, אֵהוּד בָּרָק, Ehud_barak.ogg, link=yes, born Ehud Brog; 12 February 1942) is an Israeli general and politician who served as the tenth prime minister from 1999 to 2001. He was leader of the Labor Party until Jan ...

Shaul Mofaz Shaul Mofaz ( he, שאול מופז; 4 November 1948) is a retired Israeli military officer and politician. He joined the Israel Defense Forces in 1966 and served in the Paratroopers Brigade. He fought in the Six-Day War, Yom Kippur War, 1982 Le ...

Moshe Ya'alon Moshe "Bogie" Ya'alon ( he, משה יעלון; born Moshe Smilansky on 24 June 1950) is an Israeli politician and former Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, who also served as Israel's Defense Minister under Benjamin Netanyahu from 2013 ...

and

) are also former

Chiefs of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the support ...

of the Israel Defense Forces. Amongst the duties of the post, Defense Ministers can request

administrative detention Administrative detention is arrest and detention of individuals by the state without trial. A number of jurisdictions claim that it is done for security reasons. Many countries claim to use administrative detention as a means to combat terrorism ...

. Because of the intensive work and the tension between the political echelon to the military echelon, frequently disagreements and difference of opinion are created between the Defense Minister and the Chief of Staff.

List of ministers

Deputy ministers

Directors General

Structure

Home Front Defense Ministry The Home Front Defense Ministry was a ministry in the Israeli government. The post was created for Matan Vilnai by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on January 19, 2011. At the time, Netanyahu explained his reasoning for the establishment of the n ...

, headed by the Deputy Defense Minister * Israeli National Emergency Authority, ''Rahel'' *

Administration for the Development of Weapons and Technological Infrastructure The Israel Ministry of Defense - Directorate of Defense Research & Development (IMOD DDR&D) ( he, מינהל למחקר ,פיתוח אמצעי לחימה ותשתית טכנולוגית), abbreviated Maf'at (מפא"ת), is a joint administrative b ...

, ''Maf'at'' *

Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) is a unit in the Israeli Ministry of Defense that engages in coordinating civilian issues between the Government of Israel, the Israel Defense Forces, international organizatio ...

, ''Matpash'' *

Director of Security of the Defense Establishment Director of Security of the Defense Establishment or just Ministry of Defense Security Authority, Malmab ( he, הממונה על הביטחון במערכת הביטחון, ''Ha-Memune al ha-bitahon be-Ma'arechet Ha-Bitahon'') is a department in th ...

, ''Malmab'' *Defense Establishment Comptroller Unit * Defense Political Branch, ''Abtam'' *

International Defense Cooperation Directorate International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

, ''Sibat'' ( he, האגף לייצוא ביטחוני (סיבט)) *Computer and Management information systems, ''Malam'' – Data Processing Center *

Logistics Operations and properties Branch Logistics is generally the detailed organization and implementation of a complex operation. In a general business sense, logistics manages the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of consumption to meet the requirements of ...

, ''Emun'' *Defense Social branch *

Department of Defense Export Control Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

, ''Api'' *Tank program Directorate * Procurement and Production Directorate, ''Manhar'' *Emergency management, ''Melakh'' *Ombudsman for soldiers, ''Nakhal'' *Fund and Unit for Discharged Soldiers *Department of Families and Remembrance *Disabled Rehabilitation Division

Notes

External links

Israel Ministry of DefenseAll Ministers in the Ministry of Defense
Knesset website {{authority control

Defense Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...

Israeli Security Forces

*Ministry of Defense