# Sixteenth government of Israel

The sixteenth government of Israel was formed by Golda Meir on 10 March 1974, following the December 1973 elections. However, following Meir's resignation as Prime Minister on 11 April, it only remained in office until 3 June, and at just 85 days, was the shortest-lived government in Israeli political history.
Meir's coalition consisted of only three parties; the Alignment, the National Religious Party and the Independent Liberals, although the two Israeli Arab Alignment-affiliated parties (Progress and Development and the Arab List for Bedouins and Villagers) had merged into the Alignment following the election, and held 68 of the 120 seats in the Knesset. The government initially had 22 ministers, although Minister of Welfare Michael Hasani resigned on 4 April and was not replaced. Nine of the ministers were non-Knesset members, although two of them (both from the Independent Liberals) had been elected to the Knesset in the recent election, but resigned after being appointed to the cabinet. Unlike the previous government, in which there were nine deputy ministerial portfolios, the sixteenth government had only one deputy minister, who was not appointed until 6 May.
Despite her government being praised for its administration, Meir resigned on 11 April 1974 after the Agranat Commission had published its interim report on the Yom Kippur War. The government remained in office whilst the Labor Party (the largest faction within the Alignment) elected a new leader who would attempt to form a new government. On 26 April Yitzhak Rabin, then Minister of Labour, defeated Shimon Peres, the Minister of Information, in the party's leadership contest. Rabin went on to form the seventeenth government on 3 June 1974.

## Cabinet members

| Position | Person | Party |
| Prime Minister | Golda Meir | Alignment |
| Deputy Prime Minister | Yigal Allon | Alignment |
| Minister of Agriculture | Haim Gvati | Not an MK $^1$ |
| Minister of Communications | Aharon Uzan | Not an MK $^1$ |
| Minister of Defense | Moshe Dayan | Alignment |
| Minister of Development | Haim Bar-Lev | Not an MK $^2$ |
| Minister of Education and Culture | Yigal Allon | Alignment |
| Minister of Finance | Pinhas Sapir | Alignment |
| Minister of Foreign Affairs | Abba Eban | Alignment |
| Minister of Health | Victor Shem-Tov | Not an MK $^1$ |
| Minister of Housing | Yehoshua Rabinovitz | Not an MK $^2$ |
| Minister of Immigrant Absorption | Shlomo Rosen | Not an MK $^1$ |
| Minister of Information | Shimon Peres | Alignment |
| Minister of Internal Affairs | Yosef Burg | National Religious Party |
| Minister of Justice | Haim Yosef Zadok | Alignment |
| Minister of Labour | Yitzhak Rabin | Alignment |
| Minister of Police | Shlomo Hillel | Alignment |
| Minister of Religions | Yitzhak Rafael | National Religious Party |
| Minister of Tourism | Moshe Kol | Not an MK $^3$ |
| Minister of Trade and Industry | Haim Bar-Lev | Not an MK $^2$ |
| Minister of Transportation | Aharon Yariv | Alignment |
| Minister of Welfare | Michael Hasani (until 4 April 1974) | National Religious Party |
| Minister without Portfolio | Yisrael Galili | Alignment |
| Minister without Portfolio | Gideon Hausner | Not an MK $^3$ |
| Deputy Minister of Communications | Jabr Muadi (from 6 May 1974) | Alignment |
$^1$ Although Gvati, Rosen, Shem-Tov and Uzan were not members of the Knesset at the time, they had previously been MKs for the Alignment.
$^2$ Although Bar-Lev and Rabinovitz were not MKs at the time, they were later elected to the Knesset on the Alignment list.
$^3$ Kol and Hausner had been elected to the Knesset on the Independent Liberals list, but resigned their seats after being appointed to the cabinet.