Katz was first listed on 45th on
Likud list on
1992 Israeli legislative election, but missed out when
Likud only won 32 seats. Katz won 34th place on the
Likud-
Gesher-
Tzomet list for the
1996 elections, but missed out on a place in the Knesset when the alliance won only 32 seats. However, he entered the Knesset in November 1998 as a replacement for
Ehud Olmert. He was re-elected in 1999 and 2003, and was appointed
Minister of Agriculture in
Ariel Sharon's
government in 2003. Katz left the
cabinet in January 2006 after the Likud–
Kadima split, and was re-elected in the
2006 elections. In March 2004, he suggested making a referendum among all registered members of Likud, which allowed Ariel Sharon, intent on mobilising public opinion to back his
Gaza disengagement plan, to get round opposition within the Likud convention, dominated by
Israeli settler pressure groups. Katz along with
Benjamin Netanyahu,
Silvan Shalom and
Limor Livnat announced that they would resign from the government within two weeks if Sharon did not agree to hold a national referendum on the pull out plan. In the same period, he lobbied, together with the
World Zionist Organization, to have $32 million set aside to provide incentives and subsidies for
settlements in the
West Bank. In March 2007, the
Israel Police recommended indicting Katz on charges of fraud and breach of trust linked to political appointments at the Ministry of Agriculture during his tenure as minister. The report found 24 seasonal ministry employees were members of the Likud Central Committee or were children of committee members. The police transferred their investigative material to the central district prosecution. Later attorney general declined to prosecute. (right) in August 2019 Katz ran for Leader of the Likud in
December 2005, winning 8.7% of the vote. In the
2009 elections and after winning 11th place on the Likud list, Katz retained his seat and was appointed Minister of Transportation in the
Netanyahu government. In July 2009, he decided to replace existing road signs in Israel with new ones so that all the names appearing on them in English and Arabic would be a direct transliteration of their Hebrew names, instead of being directly in English and Arabic. In February 2010, Katz was ordered by the
High Court of Justice to issue instructions based on a committee's findings that
gender segregation in public buses was illegal and that separate seating could not be coerced, as
Haredis were doing. Katz, undertaking to implement the recommendations, responded that the buses could carry signs suggesting that gender segregation was voluntary. The Haredi community considered this failure of enforcement a victory. Judges from the High Court of Justice criticized Katz's decision to allow continued operation of sex-segregated buses. in Tel Aviv, Israel, 9 January 2024 In July 2011, Katz confirmed that the state subsidizes bus tickets within West Bank settlements, causing them to be cheaper than tickets for rides within the
Green Line. According to Katz, the move was intended to incentivize settlers to use armor-protected public transportation within the West Bank, which would ostensibly reduce state spending on stationing military and security escorts for non-armored, private vehicles. Katz was re-elected in
2013 and remained Minister of Transportation in the
new government. After being placed fourth on the Likud list, he was re-elected in
2015, after which he was appointed Minister of Intelligence in the
new government, as well as remaining Minister of Transportation. In February 2019, Katz assumed the position of
Minister of Foreign Affairs. On 17 May 2020, Katz became
Minister of Finance when the
Thirty-fifth government of Israel was sworn in. in Jerusalem, 15 July 2024 He supported the
Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip. On 13 October 2023, Katz, then Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, stated on X: "We will fight the terrorist organization Hamas and destroy it. All the civilian population in [G]aza is ordered to leave immediately. We will win. They will not receive a drop of water or a single battery until they leave the world." On 1 January 2024, Katz assumed the role of the Minister of Foreign Affairs for the second time, following the Knesset's approval of a power-sharing agreement that led to the replacement of
Eli Cohen. In July 2024, he attended the
2024 NATO Summit in Washington, D.C. Katz warned of the Iran-Russia alliance and the dangers posed by Iran and China, and also met with the foreign ministers of Denmark, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, the United States, Germany, South Korea and Canada. In February 2025, Katz instructed the
IDF to prepare a plan to "allow any resident of Gaza who wishes to leave to do so", saying, "Countries such as Spain, Ireland, Norway, and others, which have falsely accused Israel over its actions in Gaza, are legally obligated to allow Gazans to enter their territory. Their hypocrisy will be exposed if they refuse."
Spain and
Ireland rejected Katz's proposal. During the
Israeli invasion of Syria following the
fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, Israel took control of the U.N.-patrolled
UNDOF buffer zone on Syrian territory, a move that violated the
1974 disengagement agreement with Syria. In February 2025, Israel Katz said that Israeli forces would remain in southern Syria "for an indefinite period of time to protect our communities and thwart any threat." at the
2024 Washington NATO summit In March 2025, Katz condemned the
massacres of Syrian Alawites committed by pro-government fighters during
clashes in western Syria and characterized Syrian President
Ahmed al-Sharaa (referred to by Katz under his
nom de guerre "Al-Julani") as "a
jihadist terrorist from the
Al-Qaeda school, committing atrocities against the Alawite civilian population." Katz affirmed Israel's intention to maintain control of
Mount Hermon and other security areas, defend communities in the
Golan and
Galilee regions, ensure
southern Syria's demilitarization, and defend the local
Druze population. On 19 March 2025, Katz warned Gaza residents in a video broadcast: "Return the hostages and eliminate Hamas, and other options will open up for you — including going to other places in the world for those who wish. The alternative is complete destruction and devastation." In April 2025, Katz said that Israeli troops would remain in Gaza,
Lebanon, and
Syria indefinitely. He announced that large areas of Gaza would be "incorporated into Israel's security zones" and that
Israeli military operations in Gaza would include a "large-scale
evacuation of Gaza's population from combat zones." Katz supported the blockade of
humanitarian aid to Gaza, saying on 16 April 2025: "No one is currently planning to allow any humanitarian aid into Gaza, and there are no preparations to enable such aid." After the
Israeli attack on the
Gaza European Hospital in May 2025, Katz declared: "We will not allow the Hamas terrorist organization to use hospitals and humanitarian facilities in Gaza as shelters and terrorist headquarters." On 8 June 2025, Katz ordered the Israeli military to prevent the June
Gaza Freedom Flotilla's vessel Madleen from coming ashore on Gaza. He called
Greta Thunberg, one of the passengers on board, antisemitic. at the Pentagon, 18 July 2025 Following
Iranian retaliatory strikes on Israel in response to
Israeli strikes on Iran in June 2025, Katz said that Iran had crossed red lines by targeting civilians, adding that it would pay a very high price for that. Katz warned that "Tehran will burn" if Iran continues to fire missiles at Israel. He also said that Iran's supreme leader,
Ali Khamenei, "cannot continue to exist". In September 2025, Katz threatened to unleash "
ten biblical plagues on Egypt" on the
Houthis after the Houthis increased their missile attacks against Israel in response of a
previous airstrike launched by Israel. Katz was charged
in absentia with
genocide and crimes against humanity in November 2025 by the
Turkish prosecutor's office, which issued an international arrest warrant for him. The prosecutor accused Katz and other Israeli officials of systematic attacks on civilian populations in Gaza, including the bombing of hospitals and infrastructure, and of
intercepting aid convoys in international waters. On 24 March 2026, as part of the ongoing
2026 Iran War, Katz announced that Israel would occupy the south of Lebanon up to the
Litani River to serve as what he described a "defensive buffer", an announcement which came after calls from
Bezalel Smotrich for Israel to annex the area. On 31 March, Katz announced plans to demolish residential structures in Lebanese villages near the border and prevent the return of approximately 600,000 displaced residents to southern Lebanon. Since the
Israeli offensive against Hezbollah began on 2 March 2026, more than 1.2 million people have been displaced and over 1,200 killed in Lebanon. Amid continued diplomatic efforts, Katz announced that the IDF would "intensify and expand" attacks against Iranian military infrastructure.
Hacking incident On 11 September 2025, an unnamed Turkish hacking group was able to obtain his phone number and managed to have a brief video call with him. During the call, one of the hackers hurled insults at Katz and took a screenshot before Katz ended the interaction. The Turkish group also published an image showing several messages that were sent to Katz on
WhatsApp, with the first message stated in
Hebrew: "Hey Katz, never forget this, your death is near, we are the defenders of Qassam, we will bury you and your country in history," referring to the
Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas. Two other messages in
Turkish were sent to Katz before being blocked read: "What the hell happened?" and "Did you block me, dog?" ==Views and opinions==