Netanyahu decides to appoint Minister Yariv Levin as Minister of Aliyah and Integration, in addition to his role as Minister of Tourism.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu decided on Sunday evening to appoint Minister Yariv Levin as Minister of Aliyah and Integration, in addition to his role as Minister of Tourism and minister who connects between the government and the Knesset.

The appointment will be approved on Sunday evening in a telephone poll among government ministers.

Levin will be appointed Acting Minister of Aliyah and Integration, and therefore the appointment will not require the approval of the Knesset.

During the month of January 2019, Netanyahu will appoint a full-time Foreign Minister.

Levin thanked Netanyahu for the appointment, saying, "I thank the Prime Minister for the trust he has shown in me. The encouragement of Aliyah and the absorption of new immigrants are the utmost Zionist tasks that I will be privileged to deal with. I will do everything in my power to increase the movement of olim and improve the absorption process of the immigrants who are already with us in Israel. "

The decision to place the Aliyah and Integration Ministry in the hands of Yariv Levin disappointed Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely, who did not hide her desire to "upgrade" her position and even asked the prime minister to be appointed to serve as Minister of Aliyah and Integration.

MK Yoel Hasson (Zionist Union), coordinator of the opposition, said in response that "Netanyahu's decision to appoint Minister Levin as Acting Minister of Aliyah and Integration proves how much we have a cynical prime minister. This decision is full of contempt not only for the Israeli public but also for the Jewish people. Netanyahu works, thinks and cares only for himself, and that’s how his decisions look."