August 16, 2012

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel’s Knesset approved the appointment of former lawmaker Avi Dichter as Home Front Defense Minister,

The 41 to 26 vote on Thursday came a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Cabinet unanimously approved the appointment.

Dichter had resigned from the opposition Kadima Party and from the Knesset on Aug. 14 in order to join the government in a ministerial position, after being offered the position hours before in a late night meeting with Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak.

He replaces Matan Vilnai, who is Israel’s new ambassador to China. Dichter will be replaced in the Knesset by Israeli-Arab lawmaker Ahmad Dabah.

Dichter joins the government as an independent, not affiliated with any political party. The former director of Israel’s Shin Bet security service and a former minister of internal security said he is not trying to split the beleaguered Kadima Party, the largest opposition party.

Dichter will also become a member of the inner security cabinet, and could cast the deciding vote on an Iran strike since the remaining eight members reportedly are split on the issue.

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