 In August 2002 he was appointed Deputy Minister of Defense, under Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, and maintained this position for three months, until the party's withdrawal from the coalition.He remained in the Knesset until the expiration of its term, in 2003.In January 2006 he re-entered the Knesset, replacing Shimon Peres, and served until the expiration of the Knesset's term in April 2006.