As there is a growing momentum to change the system of government, research has shown the average ministerial post in Israel is held for 2.2 years before changing hands – not enough to permit the most talented and well-meaning minister to implement effective policy.

Perhaps leading the list if the Ministry of Science, which was established in 1982, and since then, has changed ministers no less than 21 times, averaging 1.3 years for each minister.

The Ministry of National Infrastructure, which was established as the Ministry of Energy in 1977, has nothing to be embarrassed about. It has had 19 ministers, averaging 1.6 years each. The Environmental Affairs Ministry, established in 1988, has had 12 ministers (1.7 years).

On the other side of the equation, the most stable ministry is Public Security, established with the state under a different name, having had 15 ministers, averaging 4 years each. The credit goes to Bechor-Shalom Sheetrit, who served as minister of police from 1948 until 1967, quite an impressive record.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)