Knesset okays Katz and Levin appointments to head five ministries vacated by Haredim

The Knesset on Monday evening voted 48-42 in back-to-back votes to ratify the government’s nominations of Tourism Minister Haim Katz and Justice Minister Yariv Levin to head five ministries that have been leaderless since ultra-Orthodox parties withdrew from the government this past summer.

Levin will take over the labor, religious services, and Jerusalem portfolios, while Katz is to head the health and welfare ministries. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will temporarily be granted a number of powers usually assigned to the interior minister.

Due to his graft trial, Netanyahu cannot take over the Interior Ministry himself, as the law bars ministers from serving in such a role while under criminal indictment, and the ministry will continue to operate without a minister.

Coalition members dismissed criticism of the arrangement, with Regional Cooperation Minister Dudi Amsalem joking that he did not know how many total ministries Levin and Katz were being assigned to run.

“I haven’t counted yet,” he told the plenum, in response to questions from opposition lawmakers.

While Levin and Katz’s appointments significantly reduce the number of ministries without full-time ministers, it is unclear how they will be able to deal with the responsibilities of multiple distinct portfolios.

As justice minister, Levin is involved in a high-profile effort to overhaul the judiciary and weaken the Attorney General’s Office, as well as helming a ministerial panel to determine the mandate of the government’s controversial commission of inquiry into failures surrounding the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023.

A spokesman for Levin did not respond when asked how he would handle his newly increased workload, telling The Times of Israel on Sunday only that the minister will remain in charge of these additional files “until Shas returns to the government.” After the vote, Levin was seen chatting in the plenum with former Labor Ministry chief Yoav Ben-Tzur of Shas.

Shas quit the government in July to protest the coalition’s failure to pass legislation exempting yeshiva students from mandatory military conscription. While the ultra-Orthodox party has remained a member of Netanyahu’s coalition, it withdrew from all coalition roles it held in the Knesset last month in a further act of protest. Despite these moves, the party has reportedly worked to maintain de facto control of the ministries it gave up.

Some 80,000 ultra-Orthodox men aged between 18 and 24 are currently believed to be eligible for military service, but have not enlisted. Despite the IDF stating that it urgently needs 12,000 recruits, Netanyahu is currently seeking to advance a bill exempting most Haredim from enlistment in order to bring Shas back into the fold.

Following Shas’s exit, the government voted to appoint Levin to temporarily take over the interior, religious affairs, and labor ministries in an acting capacity. The welfare and health ministries were transferred to Katz, who was already serving as interim housing minister after United Torah Judaism leader Yitzhak Goldknopf resigned from the post prior to his party leaving the government.

These temporary appointments ended after three months, leaving five ministries without ministers, although Katz was appointed as permanent housing minister in September.

The cabinet has also yet to appoint a replacement for Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, who stepped down from his post this month. Seen as Netanyahu’s closest adviser, Dermer had handled a wide range of diplomatic matters, including ties with Washington, the hostage negotiations during the Gaza war, and Israel’s relations with its Arab neighbors.

Last week, national broadcaster Kan reported that Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara had written to Netanyahu insisting that replacement ministers “must be appointed immediately in order to reduce the harm to important public interests.”

The fact that multiple ministries were functioning without ministers damaged their ability to provide services, she argued.

“The consequences of not having an appointed minister are severe and immediate,” the Israel Democracy Institute argued in a position paper last week, noting that “certain actions and decisions require ministerial approval, such as signing regulations or appointing senior officials.”