Knesset okays Litzman as health minister

The Knesset approves the government’s decision to appoint Yaakov Litzman as Health Minister.

Litzman, of the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party, said last Thursday that he had received rabbinical approval to serve as health minister in the cabinet after he had so far served as deputy minister.

“I accept the decision by the Council of Torah Sages and have answered positively the request of the prime minister, and will thus soon serve as health minister,” he said.

His announcement came following a ruling by the High Court of Justice preventing deputy ministers from fulfilling the role of ministers. Litzman, while nominally a deputy minister, held a minister’s authority in the Health Ministry. Lawmakers from his party have previously avoided ministerial positions due to their community’s reluctance to grant full legitimacy to a secular Jewish state.