AG instructs Netanyahu to fill ministerial posts left vacant by Haredi lawmakers

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara has written to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, urging him to fill ministerial posts in his cabinet that were vacated by ultra-Orthodox lawmakers earlier this year.

Members from the Shas and United Torah Judaism parties resigned from their posts in July to protest against a bill regulating Haredi military conscription.

Following their resignation, the health, interior, labor, welfare and religious services portfolios were transferred on a temporary basis to other members of Netanyahu’s coalition.

The temporary arrangement expired last month, however, and no permanent appointments have been made since, leaving the positions empty.

Continued failure to appoint new ministers will cause “serious harm to the functioning of government ministries and the public,” Baharav-Miara warns, noting that the issue is magnified “because we are dealing with many significant government ministries.”

“There is an urgent and vital need to immediately advance ministerial appointments in order to reduce the significant harm to public interests,” she adds.