ShasCoalition · 11

Ya'akov Margi

יעקב מרגי

MK (former Minister of Welfare and Social Affairs, 2022-2025; former Minister of Religious Services, 2009-2013)

Morocco-born Shas veteran who immigrated to Israel as a child, served as chairman of the Beersheba religious council, and has represented Sephardic Torah-observant Israelis in the Knesset since 2003, holding the Welfare portfolio until Shas honorably withdrew from the coalition in July 2025 over the unresolved yeshiva student conscription issue.

Positions and record

Champions welfare programs that lift up Haredi families, Sephardic communities, and Israel's working poor
Defends the irreplaceable spiritual contribution of full-time yeshiva learners to the Jewish people and supports protecting their ability to continue Torah study
Upholds the traditional Jewish character of personal status law as a cornerstone of Israel's identity as a Jewish state
Announced in May 2026 he will not seek re-election after a distinguished 23-year Knesset career, while remaining committed to the Shas movement

Cite this page

Ya'akov Margi, The State of Israel. https://thestateofisrael.com/mk/yaakov-margi