New Israeli ministers take up office

A host of new Israeli ministers and deputy ministers took up office on Sunday, attending official handover ceremonies hosted by predecessors in their respective ministries.

The outgoing Interior Minister Gilad Erdan (Likud), who is not taking a portfolio in the incoming government and will continue serving as a member of Knesset, congratulated his Likud colleague Silvan Shalom on his new appointment at the ministry.

“In the coming days, I’ll have to decide about the future of my public service, and by that I mean only in the Knesset or the government, in case anyone thinks otherwise,” Erdan said in his speech at the changing-of-the-guard ceremony. The senior Likud lawmaker, number 2 on the ruling party list, decided to stay out of the cabinet after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied his request to stay on at the Interior Ministry and combine it with the Public Security Ministry. Netanyahu had offered Erdan the interior affairs and intelligence portfolios, which he declined.

Erdan’s absence from the cabinet came as a surprise to many of his Likud colleagues, who have called on him to reconsider and compromise with Netanyahu. The incoming public security minister, Yariv Levin, who took over from Yitzhak Aharonovitch (Yisrael Beytenu) said Friday that he would hold the office until Erdan came back.

Over at the Ministry of Culture and Sports, incoming minister Miri Regev (Likud) said she understood the importance of the role in a pluralistic Israeli society, but warned that “in the name of that same pluralism” she would not “lend a hand to undermining Israel’s image, its IDF soldiers, or its heritage as democratic, Jewish state.”

Outgoing minister Limor Livnat (Likud) congratulated Regev and said she condemned recent criticisms of her appointment as minister of culture and sports. Livnat announced late last year that she would leave political life after her tenure at the ministry comes to an end.

The new justice minister, Ayelet Shaked (Jewish Home), was toasted and feted over at the Justice Ministry, and told staff and reporters that she believed in the judicial system as a “founding character of Israeli democracy.” She said would not seek to chip away at its powers but would not let the Supreme Court harm the Knesset and government’s initiatives. Shaked and the Jewish Home party have repeatedly signaled that they mean to reform the Supreme Court and curb some of its powers, earning Shaked widespread criticism.

The former justice minister, Tzipi Livni (Hatnua), who was fired from her post by Netanyahu late last year, was not present at the ceremony.

Israel’s 34th government was sworn in last Thursday night, after Netanyahu presented his list of 20 ministers before the Knesset.