From the Liveblog of
Monday, January 22, 2024
Knesset okays May Golan as social equality minister, trashing short-lived ministry for advancement of women
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
The Knesset approves the appointment of May Golan to the role of social equality minister, abolishing the short-lived Advancement of Women’s Status Ministry and transferring its powers to the Social Equality Ministry, which will now be known as the Ministry for Social Equality and Promotion of the Status of Women.
May’s appointment comes less than a month after Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli resigned from the Social Equality Ministry in an effort to limit government spending — but will have little effect on the size of the government, as the closure of the Advancement of Women’s Status Ministry will be offset by the transfer of the Authority for the Advancement of the Status of Women back to the Social Equality Ministry, where it was before being spun out as a ministry for Golan.
In a statement to The Times of Israel last week, the Movement for Quality Government in Israel criticized the move, stating that “we can see from these actions how much this ministry was unnecessary.”
The Advancement of Women’s Status Ministry was “only established for political needs and the public was asked to pay for the political needs of the coalition. The public didn’t need this ministry and again they are still trying to trick us and play political games,” the watchdog group stated.
