Haim Katz is an Israeli politician. He currently serves as a member of the Knesset for Likud.

Katz was born in Germany on December 21, 1947, Katz immigrated to Israel in 1949. After finishing school and national service, he worked as an electronics technician. He became involved with trade unions when he became a member of the workers' council at Israel Aerospace Industries in 1983 and was also chairman of the technicians and engineers' union. In 1993 he became secretary of the National Workers Union of Israel Aircraft Industries and was appointed chairman of the pension funds policy team of the Histadrut in 1996. Katz founded the Oz (Hebrew: עוז‎, lit. Strength) faction within the Histadrut.

In 1999 Katz joined the new One Nation party. He was placed second on its list for the elections that year and was elected to the Knesset when the party won two seats.

Shortly before the 2003 election, he defected to Likud and was placed 37th on its list. He was re-elected as the party won 38 seats. As a Likud MK, he was appointed Chairman of the Labour, Welfare and Health Committee. He also initiated a bill banning MKs from serving as head of the Histadrut, meaning Peretz had to resign from his post in the union.

In the Likud primaries for the 2006 election, Katz gained thirteenth place on the party's list. Likud won only twelve seats, and he lost his seat. However, when Natan Sharansky resigned from the Knesset in November 2006, Katz replaced him as the next member on the list. He retained his seat in the 2009 elections, for which he was placed fourteenth on the Likud list.

Katz was given the position of Minister of Welfare and Social Affairs in the 34th Israeli government. He served in that position until 2019.

He was appointed Minister of Tourism in the 37th government following the 2022 election.

Katz lives in Shoham and is married with three children. He is also a member of the Israel Football Association.

On January 23, 2025, the Israeli government approved the appointment of Katz to temporarily take over four additional ministerial portfolios, including the Ministry of National Security, the Ministry of the Negev, the Ministry of the Galilee and National Resilience, and the Ministry of Heritage. This move allows former National Security Minister Ben Gvir and the Otzma Yehudit party to return to their posts whenever they choose. The decision has sparked criticism from the Likud party, with some ministers calling the situation a “puppet show” and claiming that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has turned appointments into a “mockery.” On March 18, 2025, after the ceasefire ended, the Likud and Otzma Yehudit Party agreed that the Otzma Yehudit faction would rejoin the Israeli government, with its previous ministers reinstated to their roles.

Following Yitzhak Goldknopf’s resignation as Israel’s Housing Minister on June 12, 2025, in protest over delays in passing a bill to exempt most ultra-Orthodox men from IDF service, Katz temporarily assumed the portfolio. On July 2, Prime Minister Netanyahu appointed MK Yisrael Eichler of United Torah Judaism (UTJ) as Israel’s new Minister of Construction and Housing.

Later that month, Katz assumed responsibility for the Health and Welfare portfolios following the resignation of Shas ministers due to a governmental dispute on the exemption of Haredi Yeshiva students from military service.

In November 2025, the Knesset ratified Haim Katz’s appointment to take on additional portfolios after the ultra-Orthodox parties left the coalition over the draft exemption dispute, leaving several ministries leaderless. Katz assumed control of the Health and Welfare ministries, on top of his ongoing role as Housing Minister, to which he had been permanently appointed in September 2025 following a period as interim minister after Yitzhak Goldknopf’s resignation. His new responsibilities were part of the government’s effort to stabilize key social ministries following the coalition reshuffle.

Sources: “Candidates for the 16th Knesset,” Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Wikipedia.
“Parties and Lists,” The Jerusalem Post (April 18, 2001).
Itamar Eichner, “The government approves: Haim Katz will replace the ministers of Otzma Yehudit ‘for a period of up to 3 months,’” Ynet, (January 23, 2025). [Hebrew]
Sam Sokol, “Housing Ministry set to go to Haim Katz as caretaker after Goldknopf exit,” Times of Israel, (June 16, 2025).
Shilo Freid, “Netanyahu decides: Israel Eichler to be appointed Housing Minister,” Ynet, (July 2, 2025).
Eliav Breuer, “Netanyahu temporarily appoints Levin and Katz to key ministries amid haredi resignations,” Jerusalem Post, (July 29, 2025).
Sam Sokol, Knesset votes to give Ministers Haim Katz, Yariv Levin 5 more ministerial portfolios, Times of Israel, (November 24, 2025).

Segal at he.wikipedia [CC BY-SA 2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5)], from Wikimedia Commons.