Tourism Minister Yitzchak Herzog has solved two problems at once - one political, one social - with his decision to become Welfare Minister.
The position of Welfare Minister has been vacant ever since Zevulun Orlev of the National Religious Party resigned in November 2004 in opposition to Ariel Sharon's Disengagement plan. Avraham Ravitz of United Torah Judaism served as Deputy Welfare Minister for a year until the formation of the present government.
The Labor Party, particularly, has decried the lack of a Welfare Minister - but, until today, has refused to provide a candidate to serve in the position. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, under pressure to fulfill his promise of several months ago to appoint a Welfare Minister, attempted to convince Labor leader Amir Peretz to accept the post on behalf of his party, but to no avail.
Finally today, Herzog - who recently said that he would not be part of any "games" to trade ministerial portfolios for political gains - said that he agreed to take the position. He said that he accepted it only after the Prime Minister promised him an increase in the ministry's budget and in the minister's authorities.
The Tourism Ministry will now be offered to the Yisrael Beiteinu party. The party will also receive the chairmanship of the powerful Knesset Finance Committee, after United Torah Judaism announced officially that it will not join the coalition. Yisrael Beiteinu currently has one minister - party leader Avigdor Lieberman, in the newly-created Strategic Affairs post - but has been promised more, in keeping with its 11 Knesset seats. By contrast, the seven-MK Pensioners party has two ministerial portfolios. 
Herzog will be called upon to renew national and local welfare services; private charity associations provide more help to needy families than do welfare offices.
Yisrael Beiteinu candidates for the two posts include MKs Sofa Landver, Yisrael Hason and Esterina Tartman.
Herzog is the son of the late President Chaim Herzog and the grandson of the late Chief Rabbi Isaac HaLevy Herzog. His agreement to take the post removes much pressure from his party leader, Defense Minister Amir Peretz, who recently told Herzog of his promise to Olmert that his party (Labor) would take Welfare in place of the Tourism or Science/Culture/Sport ministries. Labor's Ophir Pines resigned as head of the latter nearly four months ago.
Herzog, as Cabinet Secretary for then-Prime Minister Ehud Barak's government in the late 1990's, was involved in the Labor Party campaign funding scandal, which led to no criminal indictments. This, despite the fact that then-State Comptroller Eliezer Goldberg wrote that Herzog headed a fundraising framework that "arrogantly tramples the law," and that Barak and his party had "struck a great blow at the rule of law and at an important fundamental in our lives."
In January 2005, when Ariel Sharon first appointed Herzog as a Cabinet minister, the Movement for Quality in Government (MQG) appealed to the Supreme Court. MQG said that Herzog's role in the campaign funding scandal disqualified him from a ministerial post. He maintained silence during the police investigation on issues such as the Barak campaign's collection of funds for welfare and educational organizations and later using them for the election campaign.
MK Gideon Saar (Likud) said, "The Chelm government has managed to decide on a Welfare Minister after ten months of ruling. The entire nation marvels at the great accomplishment of Olmert and Peretz in finding a solution to this complex problem."
Defense Minister Peretz issued a statement welcoming Herzog's appointment, saying, "This is a holiday for the incapacitated, the elderly, single mothers, unemployed and the poor, who have merited a suitable minister who will most definitely carry out the social policies of the Labor Party and will work to reduce social gaps."
Challenges in the New Position
Various missions await Herzog in his new position. Among these is the renewal of national and local welfare services; it has long been an open secret that private charity associations provide more help to needy families than do welfare offices. In addition, laws governing welfare allocations and stipends are widely felt to be in need of revamping.
Ironically, the United Torah Judaism party's announcement that it would not join the coalition is related to Olmert's refusal to restore monthly child allowances to their previous levels - yet Herzog will be pressured by social groups to work precisely for that goal.