Israel health minister resigns over Saturday work hours

Ultra-Orthodox Israeli Health Minister Yaakov Litzman notified Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today of his resignation due to train maintenance taking place on Saturdays, the Sabbath. Despite this, his party, Agudat Yisrael, is expected to remain a part of the government alliance.

Litzman notified Netanyahu that he would hand in his resignation officially on Sunday, while the Likud Party is trying to reach a compromise with him, where the minister reigns from the government, but his party remains part of the alliance.

This came in the wake of Social Affairs Minister Haim Katz’s announcement this morning, saying that he approved the resumption of train maintenance work. He said: “Work concerning safety that has to be done on Shabbat – will be done. Work that there is no other choice but to do it on Shabbat – will be done. At the same time, the sanctity of Shabbat will also be kept.”

Netanyahu held a meeting with Litzman and Katz yesterday, in which Katz set the guidelines for the train works. They will be limited on Saturdays and will only include work classified as “life-saving”.

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