Litzman requests switch to Housing and Construction Ministry
Health Minister Yaakov Litzman informed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday that he seeks to be appointed Housing and Construction Minister after leaving his current role, stating that he wishes to deal with the country’s housing crisis.
The extremely high prices of property in Tel Aviv, the central district and Jerusalem have been highlighted as one of the most serious societal and economic problems facing Israel.
This crisis has also afflicted the ultra-Orthodox community, and led many to move out to the periphery
The Gerrer Hassidic community of which Litzman is a member has sizeable property investments and assets and it is believed that the grand rabbi of the Gerrer community Rabbi Yaakov Aryeh Alter told Litzman that he should take this ministry.
Litzman has come under fire over his handling of the coronavirus epidemic, including his initial disinclination to force ultra-Orthodox institutions to shutter, leading to an extraordinary public letter from his own ministry’s legal adviser telling him to close them.
According to an opinion poll from Channel 13 News last week, 67% of the general public is dissatisfied with Litzman’s performance as health minister. Litzman defended his record.. “We have made many achievements, taken control of the number of ill and dead [from COVID-19], an increase in the number of tests, and public adherence to the social-distancing orders which have saved lives,” said the minister in a statement his office issued on Sunday.