On Monday evening, the Knesset voted to ratify the cabinet’s nominations of Tourism Minister Haim Katz and Justice Minister Yariv Levin to head five ministries left leaderless when the ultra-Orthodox lawmakers who had helmed them withdrew from the government this summer.

The appointments of the two Likud loyalists were an attempt to fill a management vacuum that experts argue has significantly harmed the government’s ability to function for the country’s citizens for months on end.

With the vote, the Labor, Religious Services and Jerusalem Affairs ministries are now officially led by Levin, while Katz now holds the Health portfolio as well as Welfare and Social Affairs. Both lawmakers had initially been appointed as acting heads of the ministries, though the temporary arrangements ended weeks ago.

In addition, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is under indictment and therefore precluded from holding ministries other than the premiership, was temporarily granted a number of powers usually assigned to the interior minister — a position that will remain unfilled.

While Levin and Katz’s appointments significantly reduce the number of ministries without full-time ministers, it is unclear how the pair will be able to effectively deal with the responsibilities of multiple concurrent portfolios, which have been without dedicated leaders since July. The appointment of loyalists with existing portfolios rather than the promotion of lawmakers who can dedicate themselves to a ministry full-time is usually a sign that a government intends to merely keep the seat warm until the expected return of the original minister.

The fact that Israel has gone so long without a full-time health minister “is a disgrace, especially now that we have a major national outbreak of measles and when there are so many challenges following the war,” Prof. Nadav Davidovitch, chairman of the Taub Center’s Health Policy Program, told The Times of Israel.

Ministers often lack expertise in their assigned portfolio, but their position as members of the government gives them a singular role in setting policy, advancing initiatives, securing budgets, handling inter-ministerial matters, and appointing officials to key roles.

“In order to protect health, you need political will, you need political power, you need a strong minister that is experienced, that can make long-term plans, that can protect health needs, and fight the battle for health in terms of budget and everything,” said Hagai Levine, who heads the Israeli Association of Public Health Physicians.

The ministries were left leaderless in July when the United Torah Judaism and Shas parties both bolted the government to protest its failure to advance a core demand of theirs: legislation on military draft exemptions for yeshiva students.

The cabinet initially voted to appoint Levin to temporarily take over the Interior, Religious Affairs and Labor ministries in an acting capacity to replace Shas lawmakers who had been at their helm.

The welfare and health........

© The Times of Israel