Among the 34 ministerial posts that make up the new Israeli government, announced by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, 10 ministries have been entrusted to people from Moroccan origin, which represents about the third.
Among these 10 Moroccan ministers are those born in Morocco and those born in Israel of Moroccan parents. One of them is Aryeh Makhlouf deri Minister of the Interior, born in Meknes in 1959, and who now lives in Jerusalem, having spent the first nine years of his childhood in Morocco, before his family emigrated to Israel in 1968. He is the leader of the “Shas” religious party. He previously held the post of Minister of the Interior when he was only 29 years old.
The new government also includes Amir Ohana, Minister of Internal Security. He was born in Beer Sheva, Israel in 1976 to Moroccan parents. He is the first homosexual to be appointed minister in Israel. This was the justice sector portfolio for which he was previously responsible. He belongs to the Likud party, in which he chairs the group of homosexuals. He used to work for the Israeli intelligence services and he lives in Tel Aviv with his partner and their twins by adoption.
David Amsallem, Minister of Communication, born in 1960 and active as an economic expert, as well as Miri Regev ( born Miriam Siboni), Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, born in 1965, of Moroccan father and Spanish mother, are also of Moroccan origin. The latter previously held the post of Minister of Culture and Sports, as well as that of spokesperson for the Israeli army, in which she served for 25 years. She is known for her support for gay rights and for her frequent and regular visits to Morocco.
Rafi Peretz, Minister of Jerusalem Affairs and Heritage, is a rabbi born in Jerusalem in 1956. He heads the “Jewish House” party. He has previously held the portfolio of education. Orly Levy, Minister of Community Development in 1973. Her father is the famous former Minister of Foreign Affairs David Levy who was born Rabat. She is a model and journalist.
Among the ten ministers are also Amir Peretz, Minister of Economy and Industry, born in Bejaâd in 1952, and Michael Bitton, Minister of Civil Affairs at the Ministry of Defense, born in Yeruham in 1970, and previously elected mayor of the Labour Party. Meirav Cohen, born in Jerusalem in 1983, is appointed Minister for Social Equality.
The coalition’s representative in Parliament, Miki Zohar, born in Kiryat Gat in 1980 to a Moroccan father and a Tunisian mother, is a lawyer and political activist belonging to the Likud party. He is the leader of the lobby to recover Jewish property looted in Arab countries and is one of the most fierce opponents of the creation of a Palestinian state.
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