For the first time, a second minister will be appointed to the Social Affairs Ministry for a rotational term, according to the coalition agreement between Likud and Shas released Wednesday. Yaakov Margi of Shas will serve as social affairs minister first, and will be replaced later by Yoav Bentzur, also from Shas.
Bentzur will serve from the beginning of the term as a second minister in the ministry, and his responsibilities will include managing the National Insurance Institute and the employment branch. His appointment was made possible due to an amendment to the Basic Law on the Government, which had intended to pave the way for Bezalel Smotrich to serve as an extra minister in the Defense Ministry.
The coalition agreement between the two parties devotes a large section to welfare matters. It stipulates that the government will allocate 1 billion shekels annually to an initiative that distributes food vouchers to the needy. The government will also be required to increase its support for welfare organizations that give out food baskets during the holidays by tens of millions of shekels.
The parties additionally agreed that the government would adopt the conclusions of the Alalouf report on the war against poverty, and will also establish a national authority for confronting the issue. The parties also agreed to designate 150 million shekels for the implementation of the law on welfare services for people with disabilities.
As part of the agreement, Bentzur will be...
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