Ministry for the Development of the Periphery, the Negev and the Galilee

The ministry's principal purpose, as stated in its 2019 accountability report, was to reduce social and economic gaps between residents of the Negev, the Galilee, and the social periphery and residents of central Israel. Its objectives also included encouraging positive migration to the Negev and Galilee, assisting disadvantaged populations, and creating equal opportunities.[1]

Its work has spanned economic development and employment, informal education, culture and leisure, health, public institutions, and support for young people.[1] The ministry was originally intended to integrate the activities of the many government ministries working in the Negev and Galilee.[3] It has carried out projects directly with implementing bodies while cooperating with professional ministries and pooling budgets for larger-scale initiatives.[1]

In January 2005, the government assigned Shimon Peres responsibility for developing the Negev and Galilee in his capacity as deputy prime minister, and a dedicated ministry was subsequently created.[2][4] Government Decision 3024 of January 10, 2005, transferred responsibility for the Negev Development Authority and the Galilee Development Authority to the ministry. The authorities had been established under separate laws in 1991 and 1993, respectively, and their statutory functions included planning regional economic and social development, coordinating government and local bodies, encouraging economic initiatives, and promoting settlement and immigrant absorption.[1]

The ministry's original remit focused on employment, education, industry, and settlement in the Negev and Galilee.[4] In October 2015, its authorities were expanded and its name changed to the Ministry for the Development of the Periphery, the Negev and the Galilee, reflecting a broader mandate covering localities defined as part of Israel's social periphery.[2][5] Calcalist connected the expansion to the political circumstances of the 2015 government formation, reporting that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked Aryeh Deri to leave the Economy Ministry and that Deri requested an expanded scope for the Negev and Galilee ministry.[5]

In February 2023, the 37th Government renamed it the Ministry of the Negev, the Galilee and National Resilience, significantly expanded its areas of activity, and raised its budget to approximately NIS 2 billion.[2] Under Government Decision 109, the Young Adults Authority and the Senior Citizens Division were transferred from the Ministry for Social Equality, while the Senior Social Periphery Division moved to the Ministry of the Interior. The ministry's headquarters also moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.[2] The reorganization additionally assigned it responsibilities concerning the Authority for Planning the Development of Agriculture, Settlement and the Rural Area.[6]

The ministry has operated programs addressing settlement, housing, education, employment, health, and economic development in the Negev and Galilee.

In 2017, reported settlement incentives included NIS 10,000 for immigrant families moving to the regions and grants for returning residents who found work or opened a business.[3] Residents of communities classified as national priority areas were reported to receive tax credits of 7–21 percent of monthly income, alongside reduced land-lease fees, subsidized construction-development costs, and mortgage benefits.[3]

Housing measures described in 2017 included subsidized rent for families and students in urban communities and special projects in rural councils. Under the "Association Homes" program, prospective residents could rent apartments at a controlled rate and later purchase them with rent already paid deducted from the price.[3] The ministry also budgeted for settlement cores—groups wishing to live together in an existing community or establish a new one—while local-authority support and planning for new communities were attributed to other ministries.[3]

Education measures reported in 2017 included funding the first year of college for graduates of military or national service at colleges in the Negev and Galilee and operating "Students Building the Future," which offered scholarships in exchange for employment at local companies.[3] The ministry also operated five science and excellence centers and subsidized enrichment groups and kindergartens serving 80,000 children.[3]

In 2019, the ministry subsidized summer camps for 126,900 kindergarten-age children and provided approximately 140,000 students in dozens of local authorities with free access to the yschool online matriculation-learning project.[1] That year, 43 young-adult centers operated across 46 local authorities in the Negev and Galilee. Intended for people aged 18–40, they covered career development, business entrepreneurship, higher education, leadership, social involvement, and community development.[1]

Small-business measures described in 2017 included an "aid procedure for companies," which offered local firms budget assistance in return for hiring additional workers, and the "BizNegev" portal, which sought to use the procurement budgets of major Negev institutions to increase cooperation and activity among local businesses.[3] The ministry also announced an investment of approximately $25.5 million, or NIS 90 million, to establish 45 coworking spaces in peripheral regions. Sixteen were planned for the Galilee and ten for the southern Negev, with below-average rental fees and educational programs; all 45 were then expected to be operating by the third quarter of 2018.[7]

A 2022 account listed a ministry representative on the inter-ministerial committee supervising the five Gaza-envelope resilience centers in Sderot and the regional councils of Sha'ar HaNegev, Sdot Negev, Hof Ashkelon, and Eshkol. Established following a 2007 government decision, the centers' work includes emergency preparedness, short-term psychosocial care, training, and the development of communal resilience.[8]

The ministry was also identified as leading the multi-year national plan containing "Choosing Tomorrow—Medical Students," an initiative intended to address shortages of qualified medical personnel by encouraging medical students to begin careers at local medical centers and design social projects for Negev and Galilee residents.[9] A separate tourism initiative with the Galilee Development Authority and the Ministry of Tourism sought to create an association linking the Christian-majority villages of Fassuta, Mi'ilya, Jish, and Eilabun with Christian tourism and cultural interaction.[10]

In December 2016, Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon and Aryeh Deri presented a government-wide plan for the northern region projecting approximately NIS 15 billion in government and Jewish National Fund investment. It included NIS 12 billion for infrastructure, NIS 600 million to attract companies, NIS 1 billion for education, NIS 900 million for health services, and NIS 220 million in development grants and assistance for weaker local authorities.[11]

The creation of the Social Periphery Division in 2016 extended the ministry's development model beyond the geographic Negev and Galilee to lower-ranked localities and neighborhoods within otherwise stronger municipalities. The division was tasked with strengthening social resilience, supporting economic growth, reducing opportunity gaps, and improving quality of life. In 2019, the ministry counted 2.5 million residents, 73 municipal authorities, and 156 neighborhoods within this category.[1]

The ministry's 2022 base budget stood at NIS 471,752,000, comprising NIS 16,752,000 for salaries, NIS 5,000,000 for administration, and NIS 450,000,000 for projects.[2] This contrasts with the approximately NIS 2 billion budget associated with its 2023 restructuring.[2] Calcalist reported that under Aryeh Deri the ministry's budget rose from NIS 222 million to NIS 370 million by 2018, following the expansion of its remit to include the social periphery.[5]

A periodical accountability document titled Din ve-heshbon is cataloged with archive coverage from June 2, 2019, through July 1, 2024.[12] A 2026 government tender under the ministry's current name offered grants for clinical and basic research in Galilee hospitals, including research involving cooperation between physicians and basic-science researchers.[13]

Senior Regional Director Adva Eshel Rabinowitch's responsibilities included formulating ministry policies and managing and implementing programs and government decisions concerning economic development, employment, and demographic growth in the Negev.[14] One of her larger initiatives was coordinating the region's preparations for the relocation of Israel Defense Forces installations to the Negev.[14]

The portfolio has been held by a succession of ministers, often alongside other cabinet responsibilities. Israeli cabinet practice permits ministers to hold several ministerial posts simultaneously, helping explain the portfolio's varying configurations.[15]

The cabinet listing for the 30th government, which served from February 28, 2003, to May 4, 2006, names Ya'akov Edery as both health minister and minister responsible for development of the Negev and Galilee.[16] In the 32nd government, from March 31, 2009, to March 18, 2013, Silvan Shalom served as vice prime minister, minister for regional development, and minister for development of the Negev and Galilee, with Ayoob Kara as deputy minister.[17] Aryeh Deri held the development and interior portfolios in the 35th government, sworn in on May 17, 2020.[18] In the 36th government, the portfolio was assigned to Oded Forer, who also served as minister of agriculture and rural development.[19]

Yitzhak Wasserlauf was appointed minister for the Negev, the Galilee and National Resilience on December 29, 2022.[20] He stepped down in January 2025 when Otzma Yehudit left the government and the party's portfolios were temporarily transferred to Likud. Otzma Yehudit agreed to rejoin the coalition on March 18, 2025, and Wasserlauf was reinstated shortly thereafter.[20] Following the Hamas-led attacks of October 7, 2023, he regularly visited evacuated communities in northern and southern Israel, coordinated emergency budgets, and served as a direct contact for local authorities and displaced residents.[20]

The ministry has faced criticism regarding its structural position and effectiveness. A 2017 INSS analysis stated that it "lacks in resources and exclusive authority," arguing that its difficulty integrating the work of other ministries contributed to duplication and confusion.[3] The analysis also assessed that the ministry's education and social measures had not yet produced concrete results and could not compensate for the comparatively limited investment capacity of local authorities. These were the author's analytical judgments rather than independently established outcomes.[3]

Calcalist's account of State Comptroller findings reported that the Negev and Galilee development authorities, although intended to operate independently, were financially dependent on ministry budgets. The ministry reportedly intervened in their routine work and annual programs, including by adding projects to the Negev authority that its council had not discussed. Examples from 2016 included directing the authority to organize a settlement fair for ultra-Orthodox people in Arad and to transfer NIS 680,000 and NIS 250,000 to two associations.[21]

The distribution of the ministry's young-adult centers drew criticism from the Arab-sector advocacy organization Sikkuy, which characterized the presence of only three of 43 centers in Arab localities in 2017 as inadequate given the regions' Arab population. The ministry responded that seven new centers in the non-Jewish sector were expected to open within two years and that it was investing tens of millions of shekels in other projects in that sector.[22]

The political circumstances surrounding the 2015 expansion and the addition of "Periphery" to the ministry's name also attracted comment. Calcalist connected the change to the natural-gas framework dispute, reporting that Netanyahu asked Deri to leave the Economy Ministry after Deri declined to invoke a provision bypassing the antitrust commissioner and that Deri requested an expanded mandate for the Negev and Galilee ministry in exchange.[5] This remains Calcalist's account of the political context rather than an independently established causal finding.