UTJ’s Minister Yaakov Litzman doesn’t want to continue on as Health Minister, according to a report by Amit Segal.
At a meeting on Thursday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Litzman requested the Construction and Housing Ministry instead, in the new unity government that is being formed.
With a short break in the middle, Litzman, has run the Ministry of Health since 2009.
Litzman has been subject to growing controversy since 2019, primarily due to perceived conflicts of interest with some of the decisions he’s made. But public criticism against him spiked with the start of the Coronavirus pandemic.
Despite Israel being among the most successful countries handling the health crisis, some of the public and within the health system believe the health ministry has not doing a great job.
According to the report, Rabbi Yaakov Aryeh Alter, the Gerrer Rebbe, which is the Hassidic sect that Litzman belongs to, is interested in Litzman taking over the Construction and Housing ministry, presumably to help fast-track new housing projects for the fast-growing Hassidic community, which is facing a housing crisis.
The Construction and Housing ministry was promised to Blue&White as part of the unity government agreement with the Likud party.
There is talk that Defense Minister Naftali Bennett (Yamina) would be offered the Health Ministry if Litzman were to leave. Bennett has been the driving force in having the Ministry of Defense take a lead role in managing the coronavirus crisis in Israel, and he likes to take on challenging roles.
Litzman was born in 1948, to Polish survivors, in a displaced persons camp in Germany/ He moved to Brooklyn, NY, at age 2. In 1966, at age 17, he made Aliyah to Israel. He is married and has 5 children. He entered the Knesset in 1999.