Gantz pans failure to appoint new ministers for months as Knesset grants PM more powers

Blue and White chairman Benny Gantz condemns the Knesset’s approval of the transfer of additional powers belonging to the interior minister to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the absence of a full-time head of the ministry.

“Over the last few hours, a debate was held in the Knesset to transfer the powers of the interior minister to the prime minister because the government has not had an interior minister for many months,” Gantz says in a statement.

“Even when local authorities need the most attention, they do not have a minister, while there are unnecessary and delusional ministries. When more people need assistance, there is no welfare minister. When hospitals are preparing to handle difficult events, there is no health minister. I call on the prime minister to stop this absurdity and to appoint ministers to ministries who will work around the clock.”

Today’s vote comes several months after the Knesset approved the temporary transfer of some powers due to the lack of a full-time minister in the role. The Interior Ministry was previously run by the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, which left the government, though not the coalition, last summer over its failure to codify the Haredi community’s exemption from military service.

While Likud took over Shas’s portfolios, it did not appoint a new interior minister. Due to his graft trial, Netanyahu cannot directly take over the ministry himself, as the law bars ministers from serving in such a role while under criminal indictment and the ministry has continued to operate without a minister.

The health and welfare ministries are currently headed by Tourism Minister Haim Katz. Experts have argued that the lack of full-time dedicated ministers has significantly harmed the government’s ability to function for the good of the country’s citizenry.