Health Ministry chief Moshe Bar Siman-Tov announces he is stepping down

Health Ministry director general Moshe Bar Siman-Tov, one of the most important figures in the Israeli government response to the coronavirus outbreak, announces that he will step down from his post following the installment of a new health minister when the new government is sworn in on Thursday.

“I am proud of my years as director general and especially in dealing with the coronavirus crisis,” he says in a statement, announcing that he has told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Health Minsiter Ya’akov Litzman of his intention to step down.

In 2015 he was appointed by Litzman as the first non-doctor to lead the Health Ministry. Litzman will himself leave the ministry on Thursday to become minister of housing and construction.

“I will stay the time required to appropriately pass on the baton and I wish success to the next minister and director general,” Bar Siman-Tov says.

The move comes days after the cabinet voted to significantly ease restrictions on movement, including to allow Israelis to once again use outdoor gyms, against the recommendation of Bar Siman-Tov.

The health ministry director has taken a hardline approach in favor of broadly shutting down the country since the beginning of the pandemic and has sparred with Finance Ministry officials who have warned that such drastic measures could destroy the economy and that if the country is not reopened soon enough, it will be difficult to recover from the impending recession.

Ministers have also reportedly criticized Bar Siman-Tov for having too much influence over the government’s handling of the pandemic.

— Raoul Wootliff