The government is expected to approve today (Sunday) the appointment of Justice Minister Yariv Levin to additional positions: minister of labor, minister of religious services, and minister of Jerusalem and Jewish tradition.
This appointment stems from the need to fill the ministries that were left vacant following the resignation of the ministers from Shas and United Torah Judaism.
The goal of the move is to prevent disruption to government activity and, apparently, to preserve the personnel placed in the offices of the haredi ministers, including dozens of haredi advisers and employees, thereby allowing the haredi parties to continue controlling the ministries.
According to assessments, the concern is that without an appointed minister, all the haredi employees hired by the previous ministers would be dismissed.
Last week, the attorney general sent an urgent letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, warning: “For about a month now, there have been no ministers of health, interior, welfare and labor, religious services, and Jewish tradition. This situation is causing severe harm to the functioning of the government and to the public.”
She also noted that new ministers must be appointed immediately “to minimize the harm to essential public interests.”
About two weeks ago, the Civil Service Commission contacted the relevant government ministries and announced the immediate dismissal of the offices of the former ministers from Shas and United Torah Judaism.
According to the directive, each office may retain only three employees: one adviser, a secretary, and a coordinator, in order to handle routine inquiries and coordinate with the director-general’s office.