Public pressure on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is increasing to appoint a full-fledged Minister of Health, not just a Deputy Minister. The United Torah Judaism party, which will man the ministry, says it's just a tempest in a teapot.
Prime Minister Netanyahu has long planned to give the Health Ministry to the hareidi-religious United Torah Judaism (UTJ) party as part of the coalition agreement with that party. However, UTJ traditionally never accepts full ministerial portfolios, because of its desire not to share responsibility in government decisions that might fly in the face of Torah law. Its members therefore become Deputy Ministers, without voting rights in the Cabinet, but with ministerial authorities.
Thus, to list just a few examples, ex-MK Menachem Porush served as Deputy Welfare Minister under Shimon Peres and Yitzchak Shamir; his son MK Meir Porush served as Deputy Housing Minister under Ariel Sharon; and MK Moshe Gafni was Deputy Minister of Religious Affairs under Shamir.
A problem has arisen this time, however, in that no one in the UTJ faction wishes to accept the position of Deputy Minister of Health. The resulting delay in naming someone to fill the position has led to a clamor among Health Ministry officials, the media and others to name a full-fledged Minister of Health. The Medical Labor Union (MLU), for instance, has initiated a PR campaign claiming that “The Sick Need a Health Minister!”
The MLU has also filed a suit with the Supreme Court, demanding that a Health Minister be appointed. The Court announced that it would hear the suit by the end of this month – long after the issue is expected to be resolved.
Netanyahu's Ambiguous Response
In response to the perceived public pressure, Netanyahu announced at the start of his first Cabinet meeting today (Sunday) that he plans to appoint a “head for the health network” – leaving unresolved the questions of whether it would be a Minister, Deputy Minister, or something else.
MK Rachel Adato (Kadima), a medical doctor, said afterwards that Netanyahu must clarify what he means by the ambiguous term “head for the health network.” She noted that this phrase is merely a trick, and that he must appoint a full-fledged Minister of Health.
UTJ Explains
MK Moshe Gafni of UTJ explained on Sunday to Voice of Israel Radio that his party wants and will receive the Health Ministry, because of its importance in many areas, and said that within a few days the matter will be resolved.
Gafni rebuffed the claims that the public is demanding a full-fledged Health Minister: “I don’t know if it’s a matter of what the public wants or not; I do not consider myself an expert on what the public wants. I do know, however, that this story has all the elements of a major media issue: The Health Ministry and sick people, a dispute within a political party, a deputy minister and not a minister, the delay, etc. But it is just a matter of a few days until it is decided within our party exactly how we will man this position, and there is no reason to make such a ruckus.”
Gafni, who will become Chairman of the prestigious Knesset Finance Committee according to the coalition agreement, said that his party MKs Yaakov Litzman and Meir Porush will apparently share the position of Deputy Health Minister in rotation over the course of the government’s term.