# Twenty-ninth government of Israel

The twenty-ninth government of Israel was formed by Ariel Sharon on 7 March 2001, following his victory over Ehud Barak in the special election for Prime Minister in February. It was the first, and to date only time an election for Prime Minister was held without parallel elections for the Knesset, and one of the first acts of the new government was to repeal the law which introduced separate elections. Despite his large margin of victory in the election, because there had been no Knesset elections, Sharon's Likud was not the largest party in the Knesset, resulting in the formation of a national unity coalition that at some point included Labor–Meimad (the largest faction in the Knesset), Shas, the Centre Party, the National Religious Party, United Torah Judaism, Yisrael BaAliyah, the National Union-Yisrael Beiteinu, the New Way and Gesher. Shas left the government on 23 May 2002, but returned on 3 June, whilst Labor–Meimad left on 2 November 2002.
The government initially had 26 ministers and 15 deputy ministers, making it the largest in Israeli political history, and resulting in a new $10,000 horseshoe-shaped table having to be installed in the Knesset plenum. There were four Deputy Prime Ministers and eight Ministers without Portfolio during the government's term, during which the total number of ministers rose to 29. Although there had previously been Israeli Arab deputy ministers, with the inclusion of the Druze politician Salah Tarif as Minister without Portfolio, the twenty-ninth government was the first to have a non-Jewish minister. Sharon formed a center-right coalition government that was not dependent on the ultra-Orthodox parties.
The government held office until Sharon formed the thirtieth government on 28 February 2003, following Likud's comprehensive victory in the January elections.

## Cabinet members

| Position | Person | Party |
| Prime Minister | Ariel Sharon | Likud |
| Deputy Prime Minister | Shimon Peres (until 2 November 2002) | Labor-Meimad |
| Deputy Prime Minister | Silvan Shalom | Likud |
| Deputy Prime Minister | Natan Sharansky | Yisrael BaAliyah |
| Deputy Prime Minister | Eli Yishai $^1$ | Shas |
| Minister of Agriculture | Shalom Simhon (until 2 November 2002) | Labor–Meimad |
| Minister of Agriculture | Tzipi Livni (from 17 December 2002) | Likud |
| Minister of Communications | Reuven Rivlin | Likud |
| Minister of Defense | Binyamin Ben-Eliezer (until 2 November 2002) | Labor–Meimad |
| Minister of Defense | Shaul Mofaz (from 4 November 2002) | Not an MK |
| Minister of Education | Limor Livnat | Likud |
| Minister of the Environment | Tzachi Hanegbi | Likud |
| Minister of Finance | Silvan Shalom | Likud |
| Minister of Foreign Affairs | Shimon Peres (until 2 November 2002) | Labor–Meimad |
| Minister of Foreign Affairs | Benjamin Netanyahu (from 6 November 2002) | Not an MK |
| Minister of Health | Nissim Dahan $^1$ | Shas |
| Minister of Housing and Construction | Natan Sharansky | Yisrael BaAliyah |
| Minister of Immigrant Absorption | Ariel Sharon | Likud |
| Minister of Industry, Trade and Labour | Dalia Itzik (until 2 November 2002) | Labor–Meimad |
| Minister of Industry, Trade and Labour | Ariel Sharon (from 2 November 2002) | Likud |
| Minister of Internal Affairs | Eli Yishai $^1$ | Shas |
| Minister of Internal Security | Uzi Landau | Likud |
| Minister of Jerusalem Affairs | Eli Suissa $^1$ | Shas |
| Minister of Justice | Meir Sheetrit | Likud |
| Minister of Labour and Social Welfare | Shlomo Benizri | Shas |
| Minister of National Infrastructure | Avigdor Lieberman (until 14 March 2002) | Yisrael Beiteinu |
| Minister of National Infrastructure | Effi Eitam (from 18 September 2002) | Not an MK |
| Minister of Regional Co-operation | Tzipi Livni (until 29 August 2001) | Likud |
| Minister of Regional Co-operation | Roni Milo (from 29 August 2001) | Centre Party |
| Minister of Religious Affairs | Asher Ohana | Not an MK |
| Minister of Science, Culture and Sport | Matan Vilnai | Not an MK |
| Minister of Social Co-ordination | Shmuel Avital | Not an MK |
| Minister of Tourism | Rehavam Ze'evi (until 17 October 2001)$^2$ | National Union |
| Minister of Tourism | Benny Elon (31 October 2001 - 14 March 2002) | National Union |
| Minister of Tourism | Yitzhak Levy (from 18 September 2002) | Not an MK |
| Minister of Transportation | Efraim Sneh (until 2 November 2002) | Labor–Meimad |
| Minister of Transportation | Tzachi Hanegbi (from 15 December 2002) | Likud |
| Minister without Portfolio | Ra'anan Cohen (until 18 August 2002) | Labor–Meimad |
| Minister without Portfolio | Effi Eitam (8 April - 18 September 2002) | Not an MK |
| Minister without Portfolio | David Levy (8 April - 30 July 2002) | Gesher |
| Minister without Portfolio | Yitzhak Levy (8 April - 18 September 2002) | Not an MK |
| Minister without Portfolio | Tzipi Livni (29 August 2001 - 17 December 2002) | Likud |
| Minister without Portfolio | Dan Meridor (from 29 August 2001) | Centre Party |
| Minister without Portfolio | Dan Naveh | Likud |
| Minister without Portfolio | Salah Tarif (until 29 January 2002) | Labor–Meimad |
| Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Office | Yuri Stern (until 14 March 2002) | Yisrael Beiteinu |
| Deputy Minister of Defense | Dalia Rabin-Pelossof (until 1 August 2002) | New Way |
| Deputy Minister of Defense | Weizman Shiry (12 August - 2 November 2002) | Labor–Meimad |
| Deputy Minister of Education | Meshulam Nahari $^1$ | Shas |
| Deputy Minister of Education | Avraham Ravitz (from 16 April 2001) | United Torah Judaism |
| Deputy Minister of Finance | Yitzhak Cohen (from 2 May 2001)$^1$ | Shas |
| Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs | Michael Melchior (until 2 November 2002) | Labor–Meimad |
| Deputy Minister of Housing and Construction | Meir Porush (from 4 June 2001) | United Torah Judaism |
| Deputy Minister of Immigrant Absorption | Yuli-Yoel Edelstein | Yisrael BaAliyah |
| Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade | Eli Ben-Menachem (until 2 November 2002) | Labor–Meimad |
| Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs | David Azulai (from 2 March 2001)$^1$ | Shas |
| Deputy Minister of Internal Security | Gideon Ezra | Likud |
| Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Welfare | Yitzhak Vaknin (from 2 May 2001)$^1$ | Shas |
| Deputy Minister of National Infrastructure | Naomi Blumenthal (until 1 January 2003) | Likud |
| Deputy Minister of Transportation | Avraham Yehezkel (until 2 November 2002) | Labor–Meimad |
| Deputy Minister of Transportation | Sofa Landver (12 August - 2 November 2002) | Labor–Meimad |
$^1$ The Shas ministers resigned between 20 and 23 May 2002, but returned to office on 3 June. With the exception of the Jerusalem Affairs portfolio, during their absence, Ariel Sharon took over their positions.
$^2$ Ze'evi was assassinated.