The Ministry of Diaspora Affairs () is a government ministry in Israel. As a ministerial post in the Israeli cabinet, it has gone under several different names and was combined with the Jerusalem portfolio between 2013 and 2015. Between June and November 2005 there was also a Deputy Minister.
History The department was created under a deputy ministry called the Ministry of Israeli Society and the World Jewish Community in 1999, with a budget of approximately $2 million. Rabbi Michael Melchior was the inaugural minister, with the goal to improve Israel-Jewish diaspora relations, combat antisemitism, and create education and Israel experience programs.
The ministry was temporarily closed in February 2007, with responsibilities moved to the Department for Policy and Implementation in the Prime Minister's Office.
In 2023, the ministry organized three delegations of security personnel from the Baltic states, Brazil, and Belgium to visit Israel and provide tools to handle antisemitic attacks in their respective countries.
Amid the global rise of antisemitism during the Gaza war, the ministry allocated $2.2 million for protecting Jewish institutions and programs in Jewish schools.
In January 2024, the Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry at Tel Aviv University called in a report for the Israeli government to shut down the ministry, stating that it was "established for political reasons, lacked vision and substance, and had promoted few initiatives. The center recommended the ministry's duties be divided between the Israeli Foreign Ministry and the Prime Minister's Office. The report's conclusions mirrored the beliefs of some Israeli diplomats that the ministry lacked purpose and did not have the personnel to fight antisemitism abroad.
List of portfolio holders #MinisterPartyGovernmentsTerm startTerm endNotesMinister of Social and Diaspora Affairs1Michael MelchiorOne Israel285 August 19997 March 20012Natan SharanskyLikud303 March 20034 May 2006Minister of Diaspora, Society and the Fight Against Antisemitism3Isaac HerzogLabor Party3131 March 2009Minister of Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs4Yuli-Yoel EdelsteinLikud3231 March 2009Minister of Jerusalem and Diaspora Affairs5Likud3318 March 201329 April 2013Serving Prime Minister6Naftali Bennett33, 3429 April 20131 June 2015Minister of Diaspora Affairs–Naftali BennettThe Jewish Home33, 341 June 2015 2 June 2019 7Tzipi HotovelyLikud34 5 January 2020 17 May 2020 8Omer YankelevichBlue and White 35 17 May 2020 13 June 2021 9Nachman ShaiLabor Party3613 June 202129 December 202210Amichai ChikliLikud3729 December 2022
Deputy ministers #MinisterPartyGovernmentsTerm startTerm end1Michael MelchiorMeimad3020 June 200523 November 2005
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