Ministry of Religious Services

The Ministry of Religious Services (Template:Lang-he (HaMisrad leSherutay Dat) (formerly Ministry of Religious Affairs and Ministry of Religion) is a government ministry of Israel that handles religious affairs.

Responsibilities

The Ministry of Religious Services appoints religious councils and covers 40% of the shortfall in approved budgets for religious facilities and services; grants financial assistance to yeshivas; plans and finances the construction and renovation of synagogues and ritual baths; supervises Jewish holy places; organizes Torah teaching activities and outreach; organizes public religious celebrations; cultivates religious ties with Diaspora Jewry; certifies kashrut in public and government institutions; coordinates religious services of non-Jewish groups in Israel; plans supplementary religious education for underprivileged youth; provides Jewish ritual articles to new immigrants, schools and the needy; and provides budgets for the Chief Rabbinate and rabbinical courts.

Religious Services minister

The Religious Services Minister of Israel (Template:Lang-he, Sar LeShirutei Dat) is the political head of the Ministry of Religious Services and a relatively minor position in the Israeli cabinet. The current minister is Ya'akov Margi of Shas.

The post was included in the provisional government, and was initially known as the Minister of Religions and War Victims. Upon the formation of the second government on 8 October 1951 it became the Minister of Religions. A second re-name occurred on 5 August 1981 when it became the Minister of Religious Affairs. The post was scrapped on 1 January 2004, but resurrected on 14 January 2008.

The office holders have been largely religious, though some secularists have held the post; Haim Yosef Zadok being the first to do so when appointed in 1974. Zerach Warhaftig is the longest serving minister to date, holding the post for over 12 years between 1961 and 1974. In Binyamin Netanyahu's government the portfolio changed hands six times, with four different people holding the post (Netanyahu three times and Eli Suissa twice).

There has been a Deputy Minister on several occasions.

List of Religious Services ministers

Minister	Party	Government(s)	Dates in Office
Yehuda Leib Maimon	Mizrachi United Religious Front	P, 1, 2	May 14, 1948 – October 8, 1951
Haim-Moshe Shapira	Hapoel HaMizrachi National Religious Party	3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8	October 8, 1951 – July 1, 1958
Ya'akov Moshe Toledano	Not an MK	8, 9	December 3, 1958 – October 15, 1960 1
Zerach Warhaftig	National Religious Party	10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15	November 2, 1961 – March 10, 1974
Yitzhak Rafael	National Religious Party	16	March 10, 1974 – June 3, 1974
Haim Yosef Zadok	Alignment	17	June 3, 1974 – October 29, 1974
Yitzhak Rafael	National Religious Party	17	October 30, 1974 – December 22, 1976
Haim Yosef Zadok	Alignment	17	January 16, 1977 – June 20, 1977
Aharon Abuhatzira	National Religious Party	18	June 20, 1977 – August 5, 1981
Yosef Burg	National Religious Party	19, 20	August 5, 1981 – September 13, 1984
Shimon Peres	Alignment	21	September 13, 1984 – December 23, 1984
Yosef Burg	National Religious Party	21	September 13, 1984 – October 5, 1986
Zevulun Hammer	National Religious Party	21, 22, 23	October 7, 1986 – June 11, 1990
Avner Shaki	National Religious Party	24	June 11, 1990 – July 13, 1992
Yitzhak Rabin	Labor Party	25	July 13, 1992 – February 27, 1995
Shimon Sheetrit	Labor Party	25, 26	February 27, 1995 – June 18, 1996
Binyamin Netanyahu	Likud	27	June 18, 1996 – August 7, 1996
Eli Suissa	Shas	27	August 7, 1996 – August 12, 1997
Binyamin Netanyahu	Likud	27	August 12, 1997 – August 22, 1997
Zevulun Hammer	National Religious Party	27	August 22, 1997 – January 20, 1998 1
Binyamin Netanyahu	Likud	27	January 20, 1998 – February 25, 1998
Yitzhak Levy	National Religious Party	27	February 25, 1998 – September 13, 1998
Eli Suissa	Shas	27	September 13, 1998 – July 6, 1999
Yitzhak Cohen	Shas	28	July 6, 1999 – July 11, 2000
Yossi Beilin	One Israel	28	October 11, 2000 – March 7, 2001
Asher Ohana	Not an MK	29	March 7, 2001 – February 28, 2003
Ariel Sharon	Likud	30	February 28, 2003 – December 31, 2003
Yitzhak Cohen	Shas	31	January 14, 2008 – March 31, 2009
Ya'akov Margi	Shas	32	March 31, 2009 –

¹ Died in office.

Deputy Ministers

Minister	Party	Government(s)	Dates in Office
Zerach Warhaftig	Hapoel HaMizrachi National Religious Party	4, 7, 8	January 5, 1953 – January 26, 1954 January 9, 1956 – July 1, 1958
Binyamin Shahor	National Religious Party	13, 14	February 1, 1966 – November 17, 1969
Haim Drukman	National Religious Party	19	August 11, 1981 – March 2, 1982
Moshe Gafni	Degel HaTorah	24	July 23, 1990 – July 13, 1992
Rafael Pinhasi	Shas	25	December 31, 1992 – September 14, 1993
Aryeh Gamliel	Shas	27	August 13, 1996 – August 22, 1997 August 24, 1997 – January 20, 1998 February 25, 1998 – July 6, 1999
Yigal Bibi	National Religious Party	27 27 28	August 13, 1996 – January 20, 1998 February 25, 1998 – July 6, 1999 August 5, 1999 – July 12, 2000

External links

• Ministry of Religious Services Template:He icon