In addition to Netanyahu, the octet consists of Eli Yishai, a leader from the ultra-Orthodox Shas party and currently the minister of interior; Ehud Barak, a former Labor Party prime minister who now serves as defense minister; Dan Meridor, a deputy prime minister and member of the Likud party who is also minister of intelligence and atomic energy; Moshe Ya’alon, a former chief of staff to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) who is a Likud minister of strategic affairs and a deputy prime minister; Benny Begin, the son of former prime minister Menachem Begin, a member of Likud and a minister without profile; Yuval Steinitz, a member of Likud and the finance minister; and Avigdor Liberman, the foreign minister and leader of the Yisrael Beytenu party.