\u201cI have accepted his request to resign from the Knesset for personal reasons that he laid out before me. Alongside this, he announced that he is ready to continue to assist the movement in any way required, and I hope to continue to utilize his help and assign him tasks in the near future,\u201d Deri added, wishing Arbel success.<\/p>\n
\t Once his resignation takes effect, Arbel will be replaced in the Knesset by former MK Erez Malul, who was pushed out of parliament under the Norwegian Law when the party\u2019s ministers quit the government last summer.<\/p>\n According to Channel 13, in the resignation letter handed to Ohana, Arbel said that he wants to spend time with his family, study Torah and complete a doctorate at Reichman University. He also issued a plea for civility in politics, writing that he wished to see an end to division and \u201cgratuitous hatred\u201d so that \u201cwe may be privileged to respect one another and be moderate toward one another.\u201d<\/p>\n The network noted that Arbel had said in an interview three years ago that he would likely retire at the end of the 25th Knesset.<\/p>\n Arbel held a variety of roles, including as a parliamentary advisor and interim head of the Religious Services Ministry, before first being elected to the Knesset in 2019.<\/p>\n He took over<\/a> the health and interior ministries in April 2023, several months after Deri was forced out of the posts as the High Court had found the Shas leaders\u2019 twin appointments as health and interior minister \u201cunreasonable in the extreme\u201d due to past convictions and recidivism.<\/p>\n He was replaced<\/a> as health minister by fellow Shas MK Uriel Buso after the October 7, 2023, attack and continued at the Interior Ministry until Shas quit the government<\/a> to protest the lack of a law exempting yeshiva students from conscription in July 2025.<\/p>\n After resigning, the positions vacated by Shas were handed over to Likud, a development that experts said significantly harmed<\/a> the government\u2019s ability to function for the country\u2019s citizens for months on end.<\/p>\n Arbel, who was seen on both sides of the aisle as a competent administrator, was not afraid to break ranks with his party and the broader coalition, such as when, in 2024, he declared<\/a> that after Hamas\u2019s October 7 attack, there was no longer a \u201cmoral\u201d justification to exempt ultra-Orthodox Jewish men who were not studying in a yeshiva from army service.<\/p>\n At the time, Shas distanced itself from Arbel\u2019s remarks, stating that \u201cthe subject of the conscription law and the status of yeshiva students is entrusted exclusively to the rabbis of the Council of Torah Sages and is managed by the movement\u2019s chairman, Rabbi Aryeh Deri, and his representative to the negotiations, Rabbi Ariel Atias.\u201d<\/p>\n \t He also clashed<\/a> with National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir over a demand to strip the citizenship of soccer players who chose not to hold a sign calling to free hostages held by Hamas, insisted<\/a> that the government abide by High Court rulings, and urged<\/a> action against violent settlers.<\/p>\n Responding to Arbel\u2019s resignation, firebrand Likud MK Tally Gotliv posted on X that Arbel \u201cwill be deeply missed by his colleagues in the Knesset opposition,\u201d while slamming him for opposing the termination of Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara and being \u201cin favor of bringing in Arabs from Judea and Samaria to work in Israel during wartime.\u201d<\/p>\n Anti-government activist Yaya Fink had a different take, tweeting that \u201cwithin an extremist coalition, he proved that it is possible to act a little differently.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMoshe was not afraid to speak out in favor of drafting Haredim who do not study Torah, supported the Shin Bet against attacks from within the government, opposed Ben Gvir\u2019s pyromaniac incitements, and spoke out sharply against Jewish terrorism,\u201d Fink wrote.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t THIS MONTH ONLY: Join our reader support group for as little as $6\/month and receive an exclusive tote bag featuring one of Israel\u2019s native birds.<\/p>\n Choose between the\u00a0Duchifat (orange), Israel’s national bird, or the Shaldag (blue), a beloved symbol of the Israeli landscape.\u00a0<\/p>\n As a member of the Times of Israel Community,\u00a0you’ll also enjoy:<\/p>\n
\t\t\t
\t\t\t
\t\t\tAlready a member? Sign in to stop seeing this<\/a><\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t That\u2019s why we started the Times of Israel – to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.<\/p>\n So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven\u2019t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.<\/p>\n For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.<\/p>\n Thank you, \t\t\t
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/F230710CG115-1-640x400.jpg\")
<\/a>
\n\t\tInterior Minister Moshe Arbel seen during a meeting of his Shas party faction, at the Knesset, in Jerusalem, on July 10, 2023. (Chaim Goldberg\/Flash90)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/F240709YS061-640x400.jpg\")
<\/a>
\n\t\tMK Erez Malul attends a Constitution, Law and Justice committee meeting in the Knesset in Jerusalem, on July 9, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel\/Flash90)<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\tWhich gorgeous bird do you prefer?\t\t\t<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1779017802_165_Untitled-design-3-200x200.png\" "\\"\\"\/")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\nAn ad-free experience of our site and podcasts.
\nExclusive access to award-winning films via DocuNation.
\nWeekly letters from founding editor David Horovitz.
<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\tJoin ToI Community & claim my bag\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\tCLAIM YOUR BAG\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\tYou’re a dedicated reader\t\t\t<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/334x334-200x200.png\" "\\"\\"\/")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\tJoin Our Community\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n