The Ministry of Welfare and Social Affairs () is the branch of government charged with overseeing employment and ensuring the welfare of the public in Israel and oversee the supply of services.
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 (, Sar HaAvoda HaRevaha) is the political head of the ministry and part of the Israeli cabinet.
#MinisterPartyGovernmentTerm startTerm endNotesMinister of Welfare1Yitzhak-Meir LevinAgudat YisraelUnited Religious FrontP, 1, 2, 314 May 194818 September 19522Haim-Moshe ShapiraHapoel HaMizrachiNational Religious Party4, 5, 6, 7, 824 December 19521 July 19583Peretz NaftaliMapai825 January 195917 December 19594Yosef BurgNational Religious Party9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 1517 December 19591 September 19705Michael HasaniNational Religious Party15, 161 September 19704 April 19746Victor Shem-TovAlignment173 June 197429 October 1974–Michael HasaniNational Religious Party1730 October 19742 July 1975Died in office7Yitzhak RabinAlignment177 July 197529 July 1975Serving Prime Minister–Yosef BurgNational Religious Party1729 July 19754 November 19758Zevulun HammerNational Religious Party174 November 197522 December 19769Moshe BaramAlignment1716 January 197720 June 1977Minister of Labor and Social Welfare10Menachem BeginLikud1820 June 197724 October 1977Serving Prime Minister11Yisrael KatzNot an MK1824 October 19775 August 198112Aharon AbuhatziraTami185 August 19812 May 198213Aharon UzanTami19, 203 May 198213 September 198414Moshe KatsavLikud21, 2213 September 198422 December 198815Yitzhak ShamirLikud2322 December 19887 March 199016Roni MiloLikud237 March 199011 June 1990–Yitzhak ShamirLikud2411 June 199013 July 1992Serving Prime Minister–Yitzhak RabinLabor Party2513 July 199231 December 1992Serving Prime Minister17Ora NamirLabor Party25, 2631 December 199221 May 199618Eli YishaiShas27, 2818 June 199611 July 200019Ra'anan CohenOne Israel2810 August 20007 March 200120Shlomo BenizriShas297 March 200123 May 200221Ariel SharonLikud2923 May 20023 June 2002Serving Prime Minister–Shlomo BenizriShas293 June 200228 February 2003Minister of Welfare and Social Services22Zevulun OrlevNational Religious Party303 March 200311 November 200423Ehud OlmertKadima314 May 200621 March 2007Serving Prime Minister24Isaac HerzogLabor Party31, 3221 March 200717 January 201125Moshe KahlonLikud3219 January 201118 March 201326Meir CohenYesh Atid3318 March 20135 December 201427Haim KatzLikud3414 May 201531 July 2016Minister of Labor, Welfare and Social Affairs28Haim KatzLikud3431 July 2016 16 August 2019 29Ofir AkunisLikud3420 January 2020 17 May 2020 30Itzik ShmuliLabor35 17 May 2020 3 February 2021 31Benny GantzBlue and White353 February 2021 13 June 2021 Minister of Welfare and Social Affairs–Meir CohenYesh Atid3613 June 2021 29 December 202232Ya'akov MargiShas3729 December 2022 19 July 2025–Benjamin NetanyahuLikud37July 2025July 202534Haim KatzLikud3729 July 2025
Deputy ministers #MinisterPartyGovernmentTerm startTerm end1Shlomo-Yisrael Ben-MeirNational Religious Party813 January 19581 July 19582Ben-Zion RubinTami19, 2011 August 198113 September 19843Menachem PorushAgudat Yisrael2124 September 19842 December 19853Rafael PinhasiShas21, 222 December 198522 December 19884Moshe Ze'ev FeldmanAgudat Yisrael2322 December 198831 October 1989–Menachem PorushAgudat Yisrael2419 November 199013 July 19925Shmuel HalpertAgudat Yisrael248 June 199113 July 19926Yitzhak VakninShas292 May 200120 May 2002–Yitzhak VakninShas293 June 200228 February 20035Avraham RavitzUnited Torah JudaismDegel HaTorah3030 March 20054 May 20066Meshulam NahariShas3419 May 201513 January 2016–Meshulam NahariShas34 28 January 20206 April 2021
References
External links Ministry website All Ministers in the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare Knesset website