Former Minister of Housing Yaacov Litzman, who resigned from his position last month, will return to the ministry.
Litzman, an Ultra-Orthodox Jew, resigned from the government over the Coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions regarding the closure of synagogues during the High Holidays, alleging that the government had deliberately targeted the Jewish holidays.
Litzman will return as Deputy Minister with the powers of a Minister in the Ministry of Housing. This enables him to have control over the ministry, which he desires, while not bearing any ministerial responsibilities in regards to decisions on the Coronavirus or similar issues that he may find sensitive.
Deputy Finance Minister Itzik Cohen, of the Shas party, will be appointed Minister in the Ministry of Finance as well as in the Ministry of Housing, and Litzman, of the Agudath Yisrael party, will be appointed Deputy Minister, a complex political maneuver meant to satisfy various competing political aspirations.
Litzman is returning as deputy minister only weeks after declaring he would never serve as a minister again.
He has previously resigned from the government and returned in another capacity.
According to a BHOL report, there is anger within UTJ at Litzman’s decisions to negotiate directly with PM Netanyahu over his return, which resulted in the transfer of the ministerial position from UTJ to Shas.
JewishPress.com News Desk Contributed to this report.