# Ministry of Welfare and Social Affairs

The Ministry of Welfare and Social Affairs (Hebrew: משרד הרווחה והביטחון החברתי) is the branch of government charged with overseeing employment and ensuring the welfare of the public in Israel and oversee the supply of services. The position is currently held by Ya'akov Margi.

## History

The ministry was originally divided into two separate ministries – the Labor Ministry and the Welfare Ministry. In 1977 they were united to be the Welfare and Labor Ministry according to the view that labor can lead to welfare. In the term of the second government of Ariel Sharon (2003), the responsibility of work-related issues was transferred to the Industry, Trade and Labor ministry and in 2007 the name was changed to be Welfare and Social Services Ministry. In 2016 it was changed to the current name.

## List of ministers

The Welfare and Social Services Minister of Israel (Hebrew: שר העבודה והרווחה, Sar HaAvoda HaRevaha) is the political head of the ministry and part of the Israeli cabinet.
| # | Minister | Party | Government | Term start | Term end | Notes |
| Minister of Welfare |||||||
| 1 | Yitzhak-Meir Levin | Agudat Yisrael United Religious Front | P, 1, 2, 3 | 14 May 1948 | 18 September 1952 | |
| 2 | Haim-Moshe Shapira | Hapoel HaMizrachi National Religious Party | 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 | 24 December 1952 | 1 July 1958 | |
| 3 | Peretz Naftali | Mapai | 8 | 25 January 1959 | 17 December 1959 | |
| 4 | Yosef Burg | National Religious Party | 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 | 17 December 1959 | 1 September 1970 | |
| 5 | Michael Hasani | National Religious Party | 15, 16 | 1 September 1970 | 4 April 1974 | |
| 6 | Victor Shem-Tov | Alignment | 17 | 3 June 1974 | 29 October 1974 | |
| – | Michael Hasani | National Religious Party | 17 | 30 October 1974 | 2 July 1975 | Died in office |
| 7 | Yitzhak Rabin | Alignment | 17 | 7 July 1975 | 29 July 1975 | Serving Prime Minister |
| – | Yosef Burg | National Religious Party | 17 | 29 July 1975 | 4 November 1975 | |
| 8 | Zevulun Hammer | National Religious Party | 17 | 4 November 1975 | 22 December 1976 | |
| 9 | Moshe Baram | Alignment | 17 | 16 January 1977 | 20 June 1977 | |
| Minister of Labor and Social Welfare |||||||
| 10 | Menachem Begin | Likud | 18 | 20 June 1977 | 24 October 1977 | Serving Prime Minister |
| 11 | Yisrael Katz | Not an MK | 18 | 24 October 1977 | 5 August 1981 | |
| 12 | Aharon Abuhatzira | Tami | 18 | 5 August 1981 | 2 May 1982 | |
| 13 | Aharon Uzan | Tami | 19, 20 | 3 May 1982 | 13 September 1984 | |
| 14 | Moshe Katsav | Likud | 21, 22 | 13 September 1984 | 22 December 1988 | |
| 15 | Yitzhak Shamir | Likud | 23 | 22 December 1988 | 7 March 1990 | |
| 16 | Roni Milo | Likud | 23 | 7 March 1990 | 11 June 1990 | |
| – | Yitzhak Shamir | Likud | 24 | 11 June 1990 | 13 July 1992 | Serving Prime Minister |
| – | Yitzhak Rabin | Labor Party | 25 | 13 July 1992 | 31 December 1992 | Serving Prime Minister |
| 17 | Ora Namir | Labor Party | 25, 26 | 31 December 1992 | 21 May 1996 | |
| 18 | Eli Yishai | Shas | 27, 28 | 18 June 1996 | 11 July 2000 | |
| 19 | Ra'anan Cohen | One Israel | 28 | 10 August 2000 | 7 March 2001 | |
| 20 | Shlomo Benizri | Shas | 29 | 7 March 2001 | 23 May 2002 | |
| 21 | Ariel Sharon | Likud | 29 | 23 May 2002 | 3 June 2002 | Serving Prime Minister |
| – | Shlomo Benizri | Shas | 29 | 3 June 2002 | 28 February 2003 | |
| Minister of Welfare and Social Services |||||||
| 22 | Zevulun Orlev | National Religious Party | 30 | 3 March 2003 | 11 November 2004 | |
| 23 | Ehud Olmert | Kadima | 31 | 4 May 2006 | 21 March 2007 | Serving Prime Minister |
| 24 | Isaac Herzog | Labor Party | 31, 32 | 21 March 2007 | 17 January 2011 | |
| 25 | Moshe Kahlon | Likud | 32 | 19 January 2011 | 18 March 2013 | |
| 26 | Meir Cohen | Yesh Atid | 33 | 18 March 2013 | 5 December 2014 | |
| 27 | Haim Katz | Likud | 34 | 14 May 2015 | 31 July 2016 | |
| Minister of Labor, Welfare and Social Affairs |||||||
| 28 | Haim Katz | Likud | 34 | 31 July 2016 | 16 August 2019 | |
| 29 | Ofir Akunis | Likud | 34 | 20 January 2020 | 17 May 2020 |
| 30 | Itzik Shmuli | Labor | 35 | 17 May 2020 | 3 February 2021 | |
| 31 | Benny Gantz | Blue and White | 35 | 3 February 2021 | 13 June 2021 | |
| Minister of Welfare and Social Affairs |||||||
| – | Meir Cohen | Yesh Atid | 36 | 13 June 2021 | 29 December 2022 | |
| 32 | Ya'akov Margi | Shas | 37 | 29 December 2022 | | |

### Deputy ministers

| # | Minister | Party | Government | Term start | Term end |
| 1 | Shlomo-Yisrael Ben-Meir | National Religious Party | 8 | 13 January 1958 | 1 July 1958 |
| 2 | Ben-Zion Rubin | Tami | 19, 20 | 11 August 1981 | 13 September 1984 |
| 3 | Menachem Porush | Agudat Yisrael | 21 | 24 September 1984 | 2 December 1985 |
| 3 | Rafael Pinhasi | Shas | 21, 22 | 2 December 1985 | 22 December 1988 |
| 4 | Moshe Ze'ev Feldman | Agudat Yisrael | 23 | 22 December 1988 | 31 October 1989 |
| – | Menachem Porush | Agudat Yisrael | 24 | 19 November 1990 | 13 July 1992 |
| 5 | Shmuel Halpert | Agudat Yisrael | 24 | 8 June 1991 | 13 July 1992 |
| 6 | Yitzhak Vaknin | Shas | 29 | 2 May 2001 | 20 May 2002 |
| – | Yitzhak Vaknin | Shas | 29 | 3 June 2002 | 28 February 2003 |
| 5 | Avraham Ravitz | United Torah Judaism Degel HaTorah | 30 | 30 March 2005 | 4 May 2006 |
| 6 | Meshulam Nahari | Shas | 34 | 19 May 2015 | 13 January 2016 |
| – | Meshulam Nahari | Shas | 34 | 28 January 2020 | 6 April 2021 |