# Ministry of Construction and Housing

The Ministry of Construction and Housing (Hebrew: מִשְׂרַד הַבִּנּוּי וְהַשִׁכּוּן, Misrad HaBinui VeHaShikun) is a portfolio in the Israeli cabinet. The ministry was created in 1961. Until 1977 and for a period from November 2014 till August 2015 it was known as the Ministry of Construction, and in 1977–2014 and from August 2015 as the Ministry of Construction and Housing (Hebrew: מִשְׂרַד הַבִּנּוּי וְהַשִׁכּוּן, Misrad HaBinui VeHaShikun). Construction was also previously part of the Labour and Construction ministry during the provisional government between 1948 and 1949.
There has been a Deputy Minister on several occasions.
Since 1967, the Ministry of Housing (as it was known then) assumed a political importance in the context of Israel's relations with the Palestinians, since this ministry is responsible for construction projects at controversial Israeli settlements on the West Bank and in East Jerusalem. The political identity of the minister currently in charge, and ministerial decisions on such construction, could impact the overall government policy.
The Ministry, through the Israel Land Authority, is the legal owner of the majority of land in Israel.

## List of ministers

| # | Minister | Party | Governments | Term start | Term end | Notes |
| Minister of Housing |||||||
| 1 | Giora Yoseftal | Mapai | 10 | 2 November 1961 | 23 August 1962 | Died in office |
| 2 | Yosef Almogi | Mapai | 10, 11, 12 | 30 October 1962 | 23 May 1965 | |
| 3 | Levi Eshkol | Mapai | 12 | 31 May 1965 | 12 January 1966 | Serving Prime Minister |
| 4 | Mordechai Bentov | Not an MK | 13, 14 | 12 January 1966 | 15 December 1969 | Member of Mapam |
| 5 | Ze'ev Sherf | Alignment | 15 | 15 December 1969 | 10 March 1974 | |
| 6 | Yehoshua Rabinovitz | Not an MK | 16 | 10 March 1974 | 3 June 1974 | Member of the Alignment |
| 7 | Avraham Ofer | Alignment | 17 | 3 June 1974 | 3 January 1977 | Died in office |
| 8 | Shlomo Rosen | Not an MK | 17 | 16 January 1977 | 20 June 1977 | Member of Mapam |
| Minister of Housing and Construction |||||||
| 9 | Gideon Patt | Likud | 18 | 20 June 1977 | 15 January 1979 | |
| 10 | David Levy | Likud | 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 | 15 January 1979 | 11 June 1990 | |
| 11 | Ariel Sharon | Likud | 24 | 11 June 1990 | 13 July 1992 | |
| 12 | Binyamin Ben-Eliezer | Labor Party | 25, 26 | 13 July 1992 | 18 June 1996 | |
| Minister of Housing |||||||
| 13 | Benjamin Netanyahu | Likud | 27 | 18 June 1996 | 6 July 1999 | Serving Prime Minister |
| Minister of Housing and Construction |||||||
| 14 | Yitzhak Levy | National Religious Party | 28 | 6 July 1999 | 12 July 2000 | |
| – | Binyamin Ben-Eliezer | One Israel | 28 | 11 October 2000 | 7 March 2001 | |
| 15 | Natan Sharansky | Yisrael BaAliyah | 29 | 7 March 2001 | 28 February 2003 | |
| 16 | Effi Eitam | National Religious Party | 30 | 3 March 2003 | 10 June 2004 | |
| 17 | Tzipi Livni | Likud | 30 | 4 July 2004 | 10 January 2005 | Acting minister until 31 August 2004 |
| 18 | Isaac Herzog | Labor Party | 30 | 10 January 2005 | 23 November 2005 | |
| 19 | Ze'ev Boim | Kadima | 30 | 18 January 2006 | 4 May 2006 | |
| 20 | Meir Sheetrit | Kadima | 31 | 4 May 2006 | 4 July 2007 | |
| – | Ze'ev Boim | Kadima | 31 | 4 July 2007 | 31 March 2009 | |
| 21 | Ariel Atias | Shas | 32 | 31 March 2009 | 18 March 2013 | |
| Minister of Construction |||||||
| 22 | Uri Ariel | The Jewish Home | 33 | 18 March 2013 | 14 May 2015 | |
| 23 | Yoav Gallant | Kulanu | 34 | 14 May 2015 | 2 January 2019 | |
| 24 | Yifat Shasha-Biton | Kulanu | 34 | 9 January 2019 | 17 May 2020 | |
| 25 | Yaakov Litzman | United Torah Judaism | 35 | 17 May 2020 | 13 September 2020 | |
| 26 | Yitzhak Cohen | Shas | 35 | 14 October 2020 | 15 November 2020 | |
| – | Yaakov Litzman | United Torah Judaism | 35 | 18 November 2020 | 13 June 2021 | |
| 27 | Ze'ev Elkin | New Hope | 36 | 13 June 2021 | 29 December 2022 | |
| 28 | Yitzhak Goldknopf | United Torah Judaism | 37 | 29 December 2022 | | |

### Deputy ministers

| # | Minister | Party | Governments | Term start | Term end |
| 1 | Moshe Katsav | Likud | 20 | 10 October 1983 | 13 September 1984 |
| 2 | Avraham Ravitz | Degel HaTorah | 24 | 25 June 1990 | 13 July 1992 |
| 3 | Aryeh Gamliel | Shas | 25 | 29 July 1992 | 9 September 1993 |
| 4 | Ran Cohen | Meretz | 25 | 4 August 1992 | 31 December 1992 |
| 5 | Eli Ben-Menachem | Labor Party | 25, 26 | 8 April 1993 | 18 June 1996 |
| 6 | Alex Goldfarb | Yiud, Atid | 25, 26 | 2 January 1995 | 18 June 1996 |
| 7 | Meir Porush | United Torah Judaism | 27 | 24 June 1996 | 6 July 1999 |
| – | Meir Porush | United Torah Judaism | 29 | 4 June 2001 | 28 February 2003 |
| – | Eli Ben-Menachem | Labor Party | 30 | 11 January 2005 | 23 November 2005 |
| 8 | Jackie Levy | Likud | 34 | 14 June 2015 | 18 November 2018 |