Kitchen Cabinet of Israel
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The Kitchen ( he, המטבח, ''HaMitbah'') or The Kitchen Cabinet ( he, המטבחון, ''HaMitbahon'' or ''HaMitbachon'', lit. ''The kitchenette'') is a term used in
Israeli politics Israeli may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the State of Israel * Israelis, citizens or permanent residents of the State of Israel * Modern Hebrew, a language * ''Israeli'' (newspaper), published from 2006 to 2008 * Guni Israeli ...
to describe the collection of senior officials, or unofficial advisers to the Security Cabinet, as a narrow forum of 'Inner Security Cabinet', operating alongside the Security Cabinet, with the purpose of assisting it in formulating security assessments and policy, in preparation for debating and resolving these issues within the appropriate legal forums.


History

The first appearance of the term in Israel comes from the cooking activities associated with former
Prime Minister 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 not ...
Golda Meir Golda Meir, ; ar, جولدا مائير, Jūldā Māʾīr., group=nb (born Golda Mabovitch; 3 May 1898 – 8 December 1978) was an Israeli politician, teacher, and ''kibbutznikit'' who served as the fourth prime minister of Israel from 1969 to 1 ...
's custom of calling such consultations on
Shabbat Shabbat (, , or ; he, שַׁבָּת, Šabbāṯ, , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the week—i.e., Saturday. On this day, religious Jews remember the biblical storie ...
evenings at her home, in preparation for her full Cabinet meetings the following day. Meir became known for her custom of serving the attendees with a cake that she had just baked, and thus the image of a debate around her kitchen table naturally arose. Also nicknamed "Golda's kitchen", it usually included
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 ...
, Yigal Allon,
Yisrael Galili Yisrael Galili ( he, ישראל גלילי; 10 February 1911 – 8 February 1986) was an Israeli politician, government minister and member of Knesset. Before Israel's independence in 1948, he served as Chief of Staff of the Haganah. Biography Y ...
, and
Yaakov Shimshon Shapira Ya'akov Shimshon Shapira ( he, יעקב שמשון שפירא, born 11 April 1902, died 14 November 1993) was an Israeli jurist and Socialist Zionist politician. Biography Shapira was born in Yelisavetgrad in the Russian Empire (now Kropyvnytsky ...
, who were accompanied with various senior officials whenever required. The ''Kitchen'' attendees praised it as a preliminary assessment apparatus, while its opponents have claimed it to be a manner of overriding the official governmental bodies.
Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu (; ; born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Israel from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 to 2021. He is currently serving as Leader of the Opposition and Chairman of ...
's first Cabinet, the twenty-seventh government, maintained such a forum which included: Netanyahu,
Foreign Affairs Minister In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...
David Levy, and
Defense Minister A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...
Yitzhak Mordechai. The panel was nullified in 1997, after
Ariel Sharon Ariel Sharon (; ; ; also known by his diminutive Arik, , born Ariel Scheinermann, ; 26 February 1928 – 11 January 2014) was an Israeli general and politician who served as the 11th Prime Minister of Israel from March 2001 until April 2006. S ...
's nomination for the
Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...
post was taken into consideration and he demanded that he joined the ''kitchen'', after receiving this position, a demand which caused David Levy to quit the ''kitchen''. After David Levy quit the ''kitchen'', the forum's activities were renewed in 1998, and it included Netanyahu, Mordechai, Sharon, and then Industry, Trade and Labour Minister Natan Sharansky (though intermittently, even David Levy). In January 1999, following a cabinet reshuffle in the
Defense Ministry {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...
, Netanyahu announced that the ''Kitchen'' would be disbanded and replaced by a Ministers' team that included himself, Sharon, new Defense Minister Moshe Arens, and the
National Security Advisor A national security advisor serves as the chief advisor to a national government on matters of security. The advisor is not usually a member of the government's cabinet but is usually a member of various military or security councils. National sec ...
. In Netanyahu's second Government, the 32 Government, there was also an active limited forum of ministers. It was first known as the Septet Forum (or the Septenary, he, השביעייה, ''HaShviya''), and included Prime Minister Netanyahu,
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 ...
, Avigdor Lieberman,
Moshe Yaalon 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 20 ...
,
Dan Meridor Dan Meridor ( he, דן מרידור, born 23 April 1947) is an Israeli politician and minister. A longtime member of the Likud party, in the late 1990s he became one of the founders of the Centre Party. He rejoined Likud a decade later, and re ...
,
Benny Begin Ze'ev Binyamin "Benny" Begin, (; born 1 March 1943) is an Israeli geologist and politician. He was a member of the Knesset for New Hope, having previously served as a member for Likud and Herut – The National Movement. He is the son of former ...
, and Eli Yishai. With the inclusion of the Minister
Yuval Steinitz Yuval Steinitz ( he, יוּבַל שְׁטַיְינִיץ; born 10 April 1958) is an Israeli politician who currently serves as a member of the Knesset for the Likud party. He also held several ministerial posts, including Minister of Finance, ...
to the ministerial forum the name was changed to the Octet ( he, השמינייה). In August 2012 Minister Avi Dichter joined the small forum of ministers and accordingly it was renamed the Nonet forum ( he, התשיעייה, ''HaTeshiya''). With the resignation of Minister Lieberman the forum returned to an eight members structure. In Netanyahu's Second Government (32nd Cabinet), The Inner Kitchen Cabinet, known as the ''Narrow Kitchen Cabinet'' ( he, המטבחון המצומצם, ''HaMitbahon HaMetzumtzam'')In preparation for Mitchell's arrival: Kitchen Cabinet holds its first debate
Maariv, 13 April 2009
included Netanyahu, Lieberman and Barak.


Members

For the current cabinet of Israel see Thirty-fifth government of Israel. For the security cabinet of Israel see Security Cabinet of Israel.


See also

*
Kitchen Cabinet Kitchen cabinets are the built-in furniture installed in many kitchens for storage of food, cooking equipment, and often Silver (household), silverware and Dishware, dishes for table service. Home appliance, Appliances such as refrigerators, dish ...


References

{{Israel topics Politics of Israel Executive branch of the government of Israel