# Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (Israel)

The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security of Israel (Hebrew: משרד החקלאות וביטחון המזון, Misrad HaHakla'ut UBithon Hamazon) is the ministry of the Israeli government that oversees the country's agricultural industry. The ministry was originally called Ministry of Agriculture, in 1992 the title was changed to Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. The Development Ministry, which oversaw rural development, was abolished in 1974.

## List of ministers

The Agriculture and Food Security Minister (Hebrew: שר החקלאות וביטחון המזון, Sar HaHakla'ut UBithon Hamazon; Arabic: وزير الزراعة وتطوير القرية) is the political head of the ministry, considered a relatively minor position in the Israel cabinet. Two serving Prime Ministers, Menachem Begin and Ehud Barak, also served as agriculture ministers; Begin following the death of the incumbent, and Barak following the resignation of the former minister's party from his coalition. There is occasionally a Deputy Minister of Agriculture.
| # | Minister | Party | Governments | Term start | Term end | Notes |
| Minister of Agriculture |||||||
| 1 | Aharon Zisling | Mapam | Provisional | 14 May 1948 | 10 March 1949 | |
| 2 | Dov Yosef | Mapai | 1 | 1 June 1949 | 1 November 1950 | |
| 3 | Pinhas Lavon | Mapai | 2 | November 1, 1950 | October 8, 1951 | |
| 4 | Levi Eshkol | Mapai | 3 | October 8, 1951 | June 25, 1952 | |
| 5 | Peretz Naftali | Mapai | 3, 4, 5, 6 | June 25, 1952 | November 3, 1955 | |
| 6 | Kadish Luz | Mapai | 7, 8 | November 3, 1955 | December 17, 1959 | |
| 7 | Moshe Dayan | Mapai | 9, 10, 11 | December 17, 1959 | November 4, 1964 | |
| 8 | Haim Gvati | Mapai, Alignment | 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 | November 9, 1964 | June 3, 1974 | Not a Knesset member for part of term in office |
| 9 | Aharon Uzan | Alignment | 17 | June 3, 1974 | June 20, 1977 | Not a Knesset Member |
| 10 | Ariel Sharon | Likud | 18 | June 20, 1977 | August 5, 1981 | |
| 11 | Simha Erlich | Likud | 19 | August 5, 1981 | June 19, 1983 | Died in office |
| 12 | Menachem Begin | Likud | 19 | June 19, 1983 | October 10, 1983 | Also serving Prime Minister |
| 13 | Pesah Grupper | Likud | 20 | October 10, 1983 | September 13, 1984 | |
| 14 | Aryeh Nehemkin | Alignment | 21, 22 | September 13, 1984 | December 22, 1988 | |
| 15 | Avraham Katz-Oz | Alignment | 23 | December 22, 1988 | March 15, 1990 | |
| 16 | Rafael Eitan | Tzomet | 24 | June 11, 1990 | December 31, 1991 | |
| Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development |||||||
| 17 | Ya'akov Tzur | Labor Party | 25, 26 | July 13, 1992 | June 18, 1996 | |
| – | Rafael Eitan | Tzomet | 27 | June 18, 1996 | July 6, 1999 | |
| 18 | Haim Oron | Meretz | 28 | August 5, 1999 | June 24, 2000 | |
| 19 | Ehud Barak | Labor Party | 28 | June 24, 2000 | March 7, 2001 | Also serving Prime Minister |
| 20 | Shalom Simhon | Labor Party | 29 | March 7, 2001 | November 2, 2002 | |
| 21 | Tzipi Livni | Likud | 29 | December 17, 2002 | February 28, 2003 | |
| 22 | Yisrael Katz | Likud | 30 | February 28, 2003 | January 14, 2006 | |
| 23 | Ze'ev Boim | Kadima | 30 | January 18, 2006 | May 4, 2006 | |
| – | Shalom Simhon | Labor Party | 31, 32 | 4 May 2006 | 18 January 2011 | |
| 24 | Orit Noked | Independence | 32 | 18 January 2011 | 18 March 2013 | |
| 25 | Yair Shamir | Yisrael Beiteinu | 33 | 18 March 2013 | 14 May 2015 | |
| 26 | Uri Ariel | The Jewish Home | 34 | 14 May 2015 | 15 November 2019 | |
| 27 | Tzachi Hanegbi | Likud | 34 | 20 January 2020 | 17 May 2020 | |
| 28 | Alon Schuster | Israel Resilience Party, Blue and White | 35 | 17 May 2020 | 13 June 2021 | |
| 29 | Oded Forer | Yisrael Beiteinu | 36 | 13 June 2021 | 29 December 2022 | |
| 30 | Avi Dichter | Likud | 37 | 29 December 2022 | | |

### Deputy ministers

| # | Minister | Party | Governments | Term start | Term end |
| 1 | Yosef Efrati | Mapai | 3 | 9 July 1952 | 24 December 1952 |
| 2 | Ze'ev Tzur | Ahdut HaAvoda | 7, 8 | 5 December 1955 | 17 December 1959 |
| 3 | Aharon Uzan | Alignment | 13, 14 | 17 January 1966 | 17 March 1969 |
| 4 | Ben-Zion Halfon | Alignment | 15 | 22 December 1969 | 10 March 1974 |
| 5 | Jabr Muadi | Alignment, Progress and Development, United Arab List | 17 | 24 March 1975 | 20 June 1977 |
| 6 | Pesah Grupper | Likud | 19 | 11 August 1981 | 10 October 1983 |
| 7 | Michael Dekel | Likud | 20 | 10 October 1983 | 13 September 1984 |
| 8 | Avraham Katz-Oz | Alignment | 21, 22 | 24 September 1984 | 22 December 1988 |
| 9 | Walid Haj Yahia | Meretz | 25, 26 | 4 August 1992 | 18 June 1996 |
| 10 | Gila Gamliel | Likud | 30 | 30 March 2005 | 14 January 2006 |
| 10 | Moshe Abutbul | Shas | 35 | 4 January 2023 | |

## Units

* Plant Protection and Inspection Services

## Insurance

Agricultural insurance in the country is provided by KANAT, the Insurance Fund for Natural Risks in Agriculture. It is jointly owned by the government and the farm marketing boards, and overseen by the Ministry. The KANAT Award[he:קטגוריה:זוכי אות קנט] is given for agricultural research.