Yair Lapid
Yair LapidYonatan Sindel/Flash 90

Yesh Atid chairman MK Yair Lapid reacted this morning (Thursday) in a Facebook post to the expected appointment of Deputy Minister Ayoub Kara Minister Without Portfolio in the Netanyahu government.

"He will have a minister's office, a minister's driver, a minister's expense budget, a minister's travel budget, and the approximate salary of a minister. There's only one thing he won't have: work," Lapid wrote.

He said, "I'm not aiming to insult him, G-d forbid; this is what the law says. A Minister Without Portfolio is a man who officially has no job. The Prime Minister did not appoint him minister because the country needs him, but only to indulge him. On your account. The tax money you pay facilitates an Israeli cabinet ministership turning into a job handed out to cronies.

"Before Ayoub Kara, Tzahi Hanegbi was also minister without portfolio, but that turned into Minister for Regional Cooperation (which is like a minister without portfolio, but with a more beautiful sign on the door)," Lapid added. "Tzahi at least told the truth before he was appointed. He said the Minister Without Portfolio is an empty role and he therefore refuses to accept it even if it was offered to him. Then they offered it to him and he immediately accepted it.

"In the previous government we did not agree for there to be ministers without portfolio. The Prime Minister pressed constantly, but we refused vehemently. The same government also passed a law that there will be no more than 18 ministers. Why? Because more are not needed. Because the appointment of unnecessary ministers for political reasons is governmental corruption. Israel is a great country, with a problem. The problem is the political system. It's time to clean it up", stated Lapid.