16 Facts About Idit Silman

Idit Silman is an Israeli politician who currently serves as the Minister of Environmental Protection.

Idit Silman was the parliamentary whip of the coalition from 2021, until her resignation from the coalition on 6 April 2022, after which she maintained her Knesset seat and shifted the balance of power between coalition and opposition.

Idit Silman was born in Rehovot to immigrant Moroccan Jewish parents from Morocco, and was educated at Ulpana Tzfira and the Wingate Institute.

Idit Silman was an activist with Mafdal since her youth, and continued in the Jewish Home into which Mafdal was merged, where she was chosen for the female spot on the party list for the April 2019 Knesset elections.

Idit Silman was given the eighth slot on the Yamina list for the elections to the 22nd Knesset.

However Yamina won only seven seats, and Idit Silman lost her seat in the Knesset.

Idit Silman left the Jewish Home for the New Right on 15 January 2020, and was placed in the seventh slot on the Yamina list the same day when the alliance was re-established for the 2020 Israeli legislative election.

Idit Silman was placed in the eighth slot of the Yamina list ahead of the 2021 Israeli legislative election.

Idit Silman became an MK after Alon Davidi resigned from the Yamina list before being sworn in.

On 6 April 2022, Idit Silman resigned from the coalition, causing the governing coalition of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett to lose its majority in the Knesset, and raising the possibility of new elections in Israel for the fifth time in four years.

Idit Silman faced allegations that her resignation coincided with an assurance from Benjamin Netanyahu that the tenth place on the Likud list in the upcoming elections would be secured for her and that she would be guaranteed the position of Minister of Health.

However, Idit Silman asserted that her decision to retire was not linked to any such commitment.

Idit Silman referenced the fact that the Minister of Health, Nitzan Horowitz, citing a supreme court decision, instructed hospitals to allow visitors to enter with chametz during Passover.

Idit Silman was later given the 16th spot on the Likud's list ahead of the 2022 election.

On 29 December 2022, Idit Silman was appointed Environmental Protection Minister by Benjamin Netanyahu during the formation of the thirty-seventh government of Israel.

Idit Silman resigned from the Knesset on 7 January 2023 as part of the Norwegian Law.