# Twenty-sixth government of Israel

The twenty-sixth government of Israel was formed by Shimon Peres of the Labor Party on 22 November 1995, following the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin on 4 November. Peres kept the same coalition as previously, namely the Labor Party, Meretz and Yiud, which together held only 58 of the 120 seats in the Knesset. However, the government was also supported, but not joined, by Hadash and the Arab Democratic Party, which held an additional five seats between them.
Although the Labor Party won the May 1996 Knesset elections, Peres was narrowly defeated by Binyamin Netanyahu in the country's first election for Prime Minister, meaning that the Likud leader formed the twenty-seventh government, which he completed on 18 June.

## Cabinet members

| Position | Person | Party |
| Prime Minister | Shimon Peres | Labor Party |
| Minister of Agriculture | Ya'akov Tzur | Not an MK $^1$ |
| Minister of Communications | Shulamit Aloni | Meretz |
| Minister of Defense | Shimon Peres | Labor Party |
| Minister of Education, Culture and Sport | Amnon Rubinstein | Meretz |
| Minister of Energy and Infrastructure | Gonen Segev | Yiud |
| Minister of the Environment | Yossi Sarid | Meretz |
| Minister of Finance | Avraham Shochat | Labor Party |
| Minister of Foreign Affairs | Ehud Barak $^2$ | Labor Party |
| Minister of Health | Efraim Sneh | Labor Party |
| Minister of Housing and Construction | Binyamin Ben-Eliezer | Labor Party |
| Minister of Immigrant Absorption | Yair Tzaban | Meretz |
| Minister of Industry and Trade | Michael Harish | Labor Party |
| Minister of Internal Affairs | Haim Ramon | Labor Party |
| Minister of Internal Security | Moshe Shahal | Labor Party |
| Minister of Justice | David Libai | Labor Party |
| Minister of Labour and Social Welfare | Ora Namir (until 21 May 1996)$^3$ | Labor Party |
| Minister in the Prime Minister's Office | Yossi Beilin | Labor Party |
| Minister of Religious Affairs | Shimon Shetreet | Labor Party |
| Minister of Science and the Arts | Shulamit Aloni | Meretz |
| Minister of Tourism | Uzi Baram | Labor Party |
| Minister of Transportation | Yisrael Kessar | Labor Party |
| Minister without Portfolio | Yehuda Amital | Not an MK $^4$ |
| Deputy Minister of Agriculture | Walid Haj Yahia | Meretz |
| Deputy Minister of Defense | Ori Orr (from 27 November 1995) | Labor Party |
| Deputy Minister of Education, Culture and Sport | Micha Goldman | Labor Party |
| Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs | Eli Dayan | Labor Party |
| Deputy Minister of Health | Nawaf Massalha | Labor Party |
| Deputy Minister of Housing and Construction | Eli Ben-Menachem | Labor Party |
| Deputy Minister of Housing and Construction | Alex Goldfarb | Yiud |
| Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade | Masha Lubelsky | Labor Party |
| Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs | Salah Tarif | Labor Party |
$^1$ Although Tzur was not a Knesset member at the time, he had previously been elected on the Alignment list, and was a Labor Party member.
$^2$ Although Barak was not a Knesset member at the time, he was elected to the next Knesset on the Labor Party list.
$^3$ Namir resigned from the government after being appointed ambassador to China.
$^4$ Although Amital was never a Knesset member, he was the founder of Meimad.