Yitzhak Wasserlauf

Yitzhak Wasserlauf heads into the election for the 26th Knesset as the youngest minister in the government, with a public profile still under construction. Unlike the political veterans, he is judged not on a familiar name but on a concrete portfolio: the Ministry of the Negev, Galilee and National Resilience, which is responsible for strengthening the Negev and the Galilee, young settlements, mixed cities and threatened communities — areas where results on the ground can be assessed. His supporters see him as a young, energetic representative of the ideological right who made his way from public activism in south Tel Aviv to the cabinet table and was even added to the security cabinet as an observer; his critics identify him with Otzma Yehudit's hard line and its ties to the legacy of Rabbi Kahane. The result is a polarized judgment in which support and opposition are both strong, not a lukewarm middle position. His standing is tied to his party's fate: in January 2025 he resigned from the government along with Otzma Yehudit's other ministers in protest at the hostage agreement with Hamas, and in March he returned to his post. On the list for the 26th Knesset he is placed third, behind Itamar Ben-Gvir and MK Tally Gotliv, who joined from Likud and took second place. Because his standing is still being built, he is especially sensitive to news from his portfolio: visible achievements in the Negev and the Galilee or promotion to a more senior post would strengthen him, while losing the portfolio in the next government or a fading public presence could send him back to the Knesset's back benches. The public is still forming its opinion of him — he is an emerging figure more than an established one.