Outgoing Health Ministry chief reportedly set to run PMO

Outgoing Health Ministry Director-General Moshe Bar Siman-Tov, who announced last week that he will step down from his post following the appointment of a new health minister, is reportedly on his way to the Prime Minister’s Office.

According to a report in Maariv, Bar Siman-Tov, who has as been one of the most prominent figures leading Israel’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak, frequently giving media interviews and appearing alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, will be appointed as the PMO’s director-general shortly after the new government is sworn in.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with Health Ministry director-general Moshe Bar Siman-Tov, at a press conference about the coronavirus, at the Ministry of Health in Jerusalem, on March 4, 2020. (Olivier Fitoussi/ Flash90)

The report says that Bar-Siman Tov’s announcement last week was made in coordination with Netanyahu.

As the Health Ministry’s top bureaucrat, Bar Siman-Tov was responsible for leading many of the tough early steps to restrict Israel’s public life, and was initially credited in spearheading the country’s efficient response that prevented mass infection.