<!-- Deleted image removed: -->The
Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee () is a permanent
Knesset committee which oversees key
Foreign and
Defense areas, including the drafting of legislation, supervision over related
government ministries and the approval of their budgests. It is regarded as one of two most important committees (the other being the
Finance Committee).
Activity
The majority of the committee's activity takes place in its subcommittees, while the committee as a whole largely serves as a media stage for top defense decisionmakers. The committee approves extensive subcommittee-drafted
delegeted legislation in areas of defense, emergency
preparedness, emergency recruitment of human resources,
Shabak special operations,
allocation of emergency equipment, the deployment of the Home Front, and other security and intelligence related tasks. The committee is presented with summaries by the top decisionmakers in areas of foreign affairs, defense, and intelligence, including by the
Prime Minister, the
Foreign Affairs Minister, the
Minister of Defense, and the heads of
Mossad, Shabak, and
Aman. The committee's chair, who reports on much of the country's defense activities, is considered one of the most senior figures in the
Security Forces and subsequently, it is one of the most sought after positions in the Knesset. The committee's
plenary sessions are
secret and the meetings of some of its subcommittees are
top secret. Consequently, its protocols remain...
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