# Ministry of Religious Services

The Ministry of Religious Services (Hebrew: המשרד לשירותי דת, romanized: HaMisrad leSherutay Dat), formerly the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Ministry of Religion, is a government ministry of Israel that handles Jewish and other 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 religious schools and yeshivas; plans, and finances, the construction and renovation of synagogues and ritual baths; supervises 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 under-privileged youth; provides Jewish ritual articles to new immigrants, schools, and the needy; and provides budgets for the Chief Rabbinate and rabbinical courts.

## List of ministers

The Religious Services Minister of Israel (Hebrew: שר לשירותי דת, Sar LeShirutei Dat) is the political head of the Ministry of Religious Services and a relatively minor position in the Israeli cabinet.
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. On 5 August 1981 the post was renamed Minister of Religious Affairs. The post was scrapped on 1 January 2004, but resurrected on 14 January 2008.
Most office holders have been religious Jews, though some were secular. Haim Yosef Zadok, a secular Jew, served twice, in 1974 and 1977. During his short stints, Zadok worked to streamline the operation of the rabbinical courts and strengthen relations with the religious leaders of all faiths. Zerach Warhaftig was the longest serving minister, holding the post for over 12 years between 1961 and 1974. In Benjamin Netanyahu's government the portfolio changed hands six times, with four people holding the post (Netanyahu three times and Eli Suissa twice).
| # | Minister | Party | Government | Term start | Term end | Notes |
| Minister of Religions |||||||
| 1 | Yehuda Leib Maimon | Mizrachi United Religious Front | P, 1, 2 | 14 May 1948 | 8 October 1951 | |
| 2 | Haim-Moshe Shapira | Hapoel HaMizrachi National Religious Party | 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 | 8 October 1951 | 1 July 1958 | |
| 3 | Ya'akov Moshe Toledano | Not an MK | 8, 9 | 3 December 1958 | 15 October 1960 | Died in office |
| 4 | Zerach Warhaftig | National Religious Party | 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 | 2 November 1961 | 10 March 1974 | |
| 5 | Yitzhak Rafael | National Religious Party | 16 | 10 March 1974 | 3 June 1974 | |
| 6 | Haim Yosef Zadok | Alignment | 17 | 3 June 1974 | 29 October 1974 | |
| – | Yitzhak Rafael | National Religious Party | 17 | 30 October 1974 | 22 December 1976 | |
| – | Haim Yosef Zadok | Alignment | 17 | 16 January 1977 | 20 June 1977 | |
| 7 | Aharon Abuhatzira | National Religious Party | 18 | 20 June 1977 | 5 August 1981 | |
| Minister of Religious Affairs |||||||
| 8 | Yosef Burg | National Religious Party | 19, 20 | 5 August 1981 | 13 September 1984 | |
| 9 | Shimon Peres | Alignment | 21 | 13 September 1984 | 23 December 1984 | |
| – | Yosef Burg | National Religious Party | 21 | 13 September 1984 | 5 October 1986 | |
| 10 | Zevulun Hammer | National Religious Party | 21, 22, 23 | 7 October 1986 | 11 June 1990 | |
| 11 | Avner Shaki | National Religious Party | 24 | 11 June 1990 | 13 July 1992 | |
| 12 | Yitzhak Rabin | Labor Party | 25 | 13 July 1992 | 27 February 1995 | |
| 13 | Shimon Shetreet | Labor Party | 25, 26 | 27 February 1995 | 18 June 1996 | |
| 14 | Benjamin Netanyahu | Likud | 27 | 18 June 1996 | 7 August 1996 | |
| 15 | Eli Suissa | Shas | 27 | 7 August 1996 | 12 August 1997 | |
| – | Benjamin Netanyahu | Likud | 27 | 12 August 1997 | 22 August 1997 | |
| – | Zevulun Hammer | National Religious Party | 27 | 22 August 1997 | 20 January 1998 | Died in office |
| – | Benjamin Netanyahu | Likud | 27 | 20 January 1998 | 25 February 1998 | |
| 16 | Yitzhak Levy | National Religious Party | 27 | 25 February 1998 | 13 September 1998 | |
| – | Eli Suissa | Shas | 27 | 13 September 1998 | 6 July 1999 | |
| 17 | Yitzhak Cohen | Shas | 28 | 6 July 1999 | 11 July 2000 | |
| 18 | Yossi Beilin | One Israel | 28 | 11 October 2000 | 7 March 2001 | |
| 19 | Asher Ohana | Not an MK | 29 | 7 March 2001 | 28 February 2003 | |
| 20 | Ariel Sharon | Likud | 30 | 28 February 2003 | 31 December 2003 | |
| Minister of Religious Services |||||||
| – | Yitzhak Cohen | Shas | 31 | 14 January 2008 | 31 March 2009 | |
| 21 | Ya'akov Margi | Shas | 32 | 31 March 2009 | 18 March 2013 | |
| 22 | Naftali Bennett | The Jewish Home | 33 | 18 March 2013 | 14 May 2015 | |
| 23 | David Azulai | Shas | 34 | 14 May 2015 | 30 October 2018 | Died in office |
| 24 | Aryeh Deri | Shas | 34 | 14 October 2018 | 31 December 2018 | |
| 25 | Yitzhak Vaknin | Shas | 34 | 1 January 2019 | 17 May 2020 | |
| 26 | Ya'akov Avitan | Shas (Not an MK) | 35 | 17 May 2020 | 13 June 2021 | |
| 27 | Matan Kahana | Yamina | 36 | 13 June 2021 | 15 May 2022 | |
| – | Naftali Bennett | Yamina | 36 | 15 May 2022 | 15 August 2022 | |
| 28 | Michael Malchieli | Shas | 37 | 29 December 2022 | | |

### Deputy ministers

| # | Minister | Party | Government | Term start | Term end |
| 1 | Zerach Warhaftig | Hapoel HaMizrachi | 4 | 5 January 1953 | 26 January 1954 |
| – | Zerach Warhaftig | National Religious Party | 7, 8 | 9 January 1956 | 1 July 1958 |
| 2 | Binyamin Shahor | National Religious Party | 13, 14 | 1 February 1966 | 17 November 1969 |
| 3 | Haim Drukman | National Religious Party | 19 | 11 August 1981 | 2 March 1982 |
| 4 | Moshe Gafni | Degel HaTorah | 24 | 23 July 1990 | 13 July 1992 |
| 5 | Rafael Pinhasi | Shas | 25 | 31 December 1992 | 14 September 1993 |
| 6 | Aryeh Gamliel | Shas | 27 | 13 August 1996 | 22 August 1997 |
| – | Aryeh Gamliel | Shas | 27 | 24 August 1997 | 20 January 1998 |
| – | Aryeh Gamliel | Shas | 27 | 25 February 1998 | 6 July 1999 |
| 7 | Yigal Bibi | National Religious Party | 27 | 13 August 1996 | 20 January 1998 |
| – | Yigal Bibi | National Religious Party | 27 | 25 February 1998 | 6 July 1999 |
| – | Yigal Bibi | National Religious Party | 28 | 5 August 1999 | 12 July 2000 |
| 8 | Eli Ben-Dahan | The Jewish Home | 33 | 18 March 2013 | 14 May 2015 |
| 9 | Matan Kahana | Yamina | 36 | 16 May 2022 | 15 August 2022 |