Blue and White leader Benny Gantz appointed Israel's new diaspora minister on Thursday, Gateshead-educated Omer Yankelevich.

Ms Yankelevich will be the first Charedi woman and the first Gateshead alumnus to serve in an Israeli ministerial position.

Ms Yankelevich was due to be sworn in on Thursday, but the ceremony has now been postponed to Sunday after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked coalition partner Mr Gantz for a delay so as to complete the distribution of minsterial portfolios.  

Ms Yankelevich, 41, studied and taught at Gateshead seminary, before graduating as a lawyer in Israel and serving as a legal assistant in the Jerusalem courts system.

She also previously served as the chief of staff to the director general of the Ministry of Social Equality.

She was elected to the Knesset in 2019 and has been notoriously difficult to get hold for interviews with the Israeli media.

Ms Yankelevich’s experience of the Jewish diaspora comes from her studies in the UK and her Russian background.

As a teenager, she taught Hebrew and Judaism in Russia and Ukraine.

Ms Yankelevich will succeed Likud's Tzipi Hotovely as minister of diaspora affairs.  

Ms Yankelevich is the founder of the ‘Just Begun Foundation’, an organisation that seeks to promote the integration of those on the margins of Israeli society, especially Charedim.  

Jewish Agency Chairman Isaac Herzog welcomed the appointment of Ms Yankelevich, saying that he would would work with anyone who “serves the unity of the Jewish people”.