title: Nineteenth government of Israel
text: # Nineteenth government of Israel
  
  The Nineteenth government of Israel was formed by Menachem Begin on 5 August 1981, following the June elections. Begin included Likud, the National Religious Party, Agudat Yisrael, Tami and Telem in his coalition, which held 63 of the 120 seats in the Knesset, and the cabinet had 17 ministers. On 26 August Tehiya joined the coalition, and the number of ministers rose to 18.
  
  Begin resigned as Prime Minister in August 1983, and Yitzhak Shamir formed the twentieth government on 10 October, which held office until after the 1984 elections.
  
  ## Cabinet members
  
  | Position | Person | Party |
  | - | - | - |
  | Prime Minister | Menachem Begin | Likud |
  | Deputy Prime Minister | Simha Erlich (until 19 June 1983) $^1$ | Likud |
  | Deputy Prime Minister | David Levy (from 3 November 1981) | Likud |
  | Minister of Agriculture | Simha Erlich (until 19 June 1983) $^1$ | Likud |
  | Minister of Agriculture | Menachem Begin | Likud |
  | Minister of Communications | Mordechai Tzipori | Likud |
  | Minister of Defense | Ariel Sharon (until 14 February 1983) | Likud |
  | Minister of Defense | Menachem Begin (14–23 February 1983) | Likud |
  | Minister of Defense | Moshe Arens (from 23 February 1983) | Not an MK $^2$ |
  | Minister of Economics and Inter-Ministry Co-ordination | Ya'akov Meridor | Not an MK $^2$ |
  | Minister of Education and Culture | Zevulun Hammer | National Religious Party |
  | Minister of Energy and Infrastructure | Yitzhak Berman (until 30 September 1982) $^3$ | Likud |
  | Minister of Energy and Infrastructure | Yitzhak Moda'i (from 19 October 1982) | Likud |
  | Minister of Finance | Yoram Aridor | Likud |
  | Minister of Foreign Affairs | Yitzhak Shamir | Likud |
  | Minister of Health | Eliezer Shostak | Likud |
  | Minister of Housing and Construction | David Levy | Likud |
  | Minister of Immigrant Absorption | Aharon Abuhatzira (until 4 May 1982) $^4$ | Tami |
  | Minister of Immigrant Absorption | Aharon Uzan (from 4 May 1982) | Tami |
  | Minister of Industry and Trade | Gideon Patt | Likud |
  | Minister of Internal Affairs | Yosef Burg | National Religious Party |
  | Minister of Justice | Moshe Nissim | Likud |
  | Minister of Labour and Social Welfare | Aharon Abuhatzira (until 2 May 1982) $^4$ | Tami |
  | Minister of Labour and Social Welfare | Aharon Uzan (from 3 May 1982) | Tami |
  | Minister of Religious Affairs | Yosef Burg | National Religious Party |
  | Minister of Science and Development | Yuval Ne'eman (from 26 July 1982) | Tehiya |
  | Minister of Tourism | Gideon Patt (until 11 August 1981) | Likud |
  | Minister of Tourism | Avraham Sharir (from 1 August 1981) | Likud |
  | Minister of Transportation | Haim Corfu | Likud |
  | Minister without Portfolio | Yitzhak Moda'i (until 19 October 1982) | Likud |
  | Minister without Portfolio | Mordechai Ben-Porat (from 5 July 1982) | Telem, Movement for the Renewal of Social Zionism |
  | Minister without Portfolio | Ariel Sharon (from 14 February 1982) | Likud |
  | Minister without Portfolio | Sarah Doron (from 5 July 1983) | Likud |
  | Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Office | Dov Shilansky | Likud |
  | Deputy Minister of Agriculture | Michael Dekel | Likud |
  | Deputy Minister of Agriculture | Pesach Grupper | Likud |
  | Deputy Minister of Defense | Mordechai Tzipori | Likud |
  | Deputy Minister of Education and Culture | Miriam Glazer-Ta'asa | Likud |
  | Deputy Minister of Finance | Haim Kaufman (from 28 August 1981) | Likud |
  | Deputy Minister of Housing and Construction | Moshe Katsav | Likud |
  | Deputy Minister of Immigrant Absorption | Aharon Uzan (until 5 May 1982) | Tami |
  | Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Welfare | Ben-Zion Rubin | Tami |
  | Deputy Minister of Religious Affairs | Haim Drukman (until 2 March 1982) | National Religious Party |
  | Deputy Minister of Transportation | David Shiffman (until 18 October 1982) $^1$ | Likud |
  
  $^1$ Died in office.
  
  $^2$ Although Arens was not an MK at the time, he had been elected to the Knesset on the Likud list.
  
  $^3$ Berman resigned from the government due to its attitude towards the Kahan Commission.
  
  $^3$ Abuhatzira resigned from the government after being convicted of larceny, breach of trust and fraud.
  
  