In an effort to entice political parties to enter the coalition, towards bringing the ruling Kadima party a majority in the 120-seat Knesset, some senior members of the parties receive ministerial appointments, thereby becoming cabinet ministers, or members of the government if you will. This is the common practice following any general election. Those parties opting not to join the coalition remain in opposition by default. The leader of the largest party not joining the coalition, in this case Binyamin Netanyahu of Likud, becomes the opposition leader.

In Hebrew, those becoming cabinet ministers but do not have a portfolio are referred to as ministers “blei tik”, without a portfolio. In the ruling government, there are a number of such personalities, who have an office, vehicle, driver, staff, and a budget, but some are just plain ministers of nothing.

According to a ynet report filed by correspondent Gad Lior, such a minister can cost the taxpayer NIS 10 million annually.

What is sometimes done is that a portion of the responsibilities of an existing ministry will be transferred to the new minister of nothing, thereby justifying the move.

Ministers without portfolio in the current cabinet include Ruchama Avraham (Kadima), Ami Ayalon (Labor), and Meshulam Nahari (Shas). You might ask why is a Kadima member given the post – this may be because of her seniority in the party, or usually, to even out the score since other coalition members have ministers of nothing.

A prime example would be the cabinet decision of this past Sunday, when they voted to close the Ministry of Strategic Planning. That entire ministry was created to tailor a cabinet post with enough clout, budget and political might to compel Avigdor Lieberman and his Yisrael Beitenu Party to join the coalition.

It worked for a while but Lieberman saw the writing on the wall and realized he will benefit more in the long run by remaining loyal to the platform of his right-wing constituents, prompting him to resign from the cabinet and coalition in January, where his party now sits as a member of the opposition.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)