VZCZCXYZ0003
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHTV #0825/01 0981054
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 081054Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1358
INFO RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN 5784
RUEAEPA/HQ EPA WASHDC
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHDC

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 000825 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
EPA FOR INTERNATIONAL FULTON 
AMMAN FOR BHALLA 
HHS FOR INTERNATIONAL COURY 
EEB FOR JON MUDGE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: IS PGOV PREL SENV OECD
SUBJECT: MINISTERS OF ENVIRONMENT, SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, 
AND HEALTH: NEW FACES ON ISRAEL,S ESTH SCENE 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary.  Israel's new government under Prime 
Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was sworn in last week with the 
largest cabinet in Israel's history.  Gilad Erdan of Likud 
was appointed to the Ministry of Environmental Protection, 
and he appears to be taking an activist stance early in his 
tenure.  Technion Professor Daniel Hershkowitz, Chairman of 
the Jewish Home Party, was named head of the new Ministry of 
Science and Technology, which was split off from the former 
Ministry of Science, Culture, and Sport.  No Minister of 
Health was named; instead Ya'acov Litzman of United Torah 
Judaism (UTJ) was appointed Deputy Minister of Health with 
most of the authority of a full-fledged minister, but he will 
not sit in the prime minister's cabinet.  The Israel Medical 
Association has appealed this decision to the High Court of 
Justice.  End Summary. 
 
HIGH HOPES FOR NEW ENVIRONMENT MINISTER 
 
¶2. (SBU) MK Gilad Erdan (Likud) was appointed to head the 
Ministry of Environmental Protection with widespread approval 
from Knesset members and environmentalists alike.  Erdan has 
previously received recognition from the Israel Union for 
Environmental Defense, and was co-recipient of a Green Globe 
Award from Life and Environment, Israel's umbrella 
organization of environmental NGOs, for his support for 
"green" legislation.  At 38, Erdan is a young minister and is 
expected to inject some youthful energy into the ministry as 
he tries to effect a "green revolution".  A Knesset member 
since 2003, he  served in the environmental lobby of the 16th 
Knesset and as member of the social-environmental lobby in 
the 17th.  He is a lawyer by profession, and has spent most 
of his career in government service.  In the past Erdan 
supported legislation to fight air pollution, build bicycle 
paths along roadways, impose helmet regulations, and promote 
alternative energy.  His strong position within Likud--he 
earned the third slot on the party's list in the February 
2009 elections--will help him fight for the budget required 
to achieve his Ministry's goals.  The Ministry of 
Environmental Protection has historically been hamstrung by 
budget constraints, and Erdan may face challenges in 
narrowing his focus to a subset of achievable goals rather 
than attempting to tackle all of the environmental issues in 
Israel. 
 
¶3. (U) Erdan's first major act as environment minister was to 
issue a detailed objection to the planned construction of a 
new coal power plant in his hometown of Ashkelon, a port city 
south of Tel Aviv.  He has called for the cabinet to 
immediately freeze the plans for the power plant, stating 
that it is unnecessary and counterproductive due to the 
recent discovery of a natural gas off of Israel's coast and 
the likelihood that Israel will have to abide by a post-Kyoto 
protocol to reduce greenhouse gas emissions starting in 2012. 
 (Note: About 70 percent of Israel's electricity still comes 
from coal-fired plants, which constitute some of the 
country's major CO2 emissions sources.) 
 
NEW SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY MINISTRY-A SIGN OF THE TIMES? 
 
¶4. (SBU) The Science and Technology Ministry was separated 
from a larger ministry comprised of largely unrelated 
components, formerly known as the Ministry of Science, 
Culture, and Sport.  Professor Daniel Hershkowitz, elected to 
the Knesset in February 2009 as Chairman of the Jewish Home 
Party, will head the new ministry.  As a newcomer to the 
political scene, little is known about his plans or his 
readiness to serve as a minister.  He is, however, a 
well-regarded professor of mathematics at the Technion, and 
is viewed as knowledgeable in the subject area if not as a 
seasoned politician.  Although the splitting of this ministry 
probably was done to create more cabinet ministers for 
Netanyahu's coalition partners, it also could engender a 
commitment on the part of the incoming prime minister to the 
advancement of science and technology and bring welcome 
visibility to S&T issues in the new government. 
 
UTJ TAKES THE HEALTH PORTFOLIO 
 
¶5. (U) After a few days of back and forth over whether there 
would or would not be a full-fledged Minister of Health, and 
some additional political infighting in UTJ, MK Ya'acov 
Litzman has been appointed Deputy Minister of Health with no 
minister above him.  This is the first time in Israel's 
61-year history that the health portfolio will go without a 
 
minister.  UTJ has a policy dating back to 1953 of not 
serving in the cabinet because it does not want to 
participate in any decisions that contravene halacha, or 
Jewish religious law.  According to the agreement, Litzman 
will have most of the authority of a full minister but will 
not be a member of the cabinet.  The Israeli Medical 
Association (IMA) has opposed this decision and filed a 
petition to the High Court of Justice against the prime 
minister and his government.  IMA maintains that the failure 
to appoint a cabinet-level person is "illegal and 
unreasonable" due to the size and complexity of Israel's 
third largest ministry.  Their lawyers state that a deputy 
minister does not have the power to carry out major reforms, 
sign important regulations, sit on the ministerial committee 
for legislation, or present private bills.  The High Court 
has agreed to hear the case by the end of the month but will 
not impose a temporary injunction as requested by IMA. 
 
¶6. (U) Ya'acov Litzman has been a member of the Knesset since 
1999, where he has twice been Chairman of the Finance 
Committee in addition to being a member of various other 
committees including Labor, Welfare, and Health; Internal 
Affairs and Environment; Joint Committee for the Defense 
Budget; State Control; and Science and Technology.  He, along 
with many others, considered himself more suited to assume 
the role of Deputy Minister of Finance.  However, that 
designation was already allotted to Ya'acov Cohen of Shas, 
and Litzman was unable to broker a deal with the prime 
minister to swap portfolios.  He is highly regarded in the 
political establishment and is considered to have great 
organizational and managerial abilities.  He announced that 
he agreed to accept the position because doctors and health 
officials pressured him to accept it, believing his 
experience as former head of the Finance Committee has given 
him the experience necessary to help stabilize the health 
system while dealing with cost overruns. 
 
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Visit Embassy Tel Aviv's Classified Website: 
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CUNNINGHAM