Health Ministry director-general Moshe Bar Siman Tov resigns

He held his role for the last five years, and worked in public service for the last 20.

MAY 12, 2020 19:57

Updated: MAY 14, 2020 11:42

Health Ministry Director-General Moshe Bar Siman Tov (photo credit: MINISTRY OF HEALTH) — Health Ministry Director-General Moshe Bar Siman Tov

(photo credit: MINISTRY OF HEALTH)

Moshe Bar Siman Tov resigned as Health Ministry director-general on Tuesday, hours before Yuli Edelstein (Likud) accepted the role of Israel’s next health minister.

“With the establishment of the new government, I want to announce my resignation,” he said in a letter to Health Minister Ya’acov Litzman.

Bar Siman Tov held his role for the last five years and has worked in public service for the past 20.

He said now was the right time to step down, with the country “returning to routine in the shadow of coronavirus. More and more activities, businesses, communities and personal pleasures are returning. The government recently rolled out a road map for a full return to routine, subject to the state of morbidity.”

At the beginning of the coronavirus crisis, Bar Siman Tov said, he and his team identified a number of goals, including that “every person in need of treatment, specifically with a ventilator, would receive the excellent care we know how to give” and that the State of Israel would be among the countries that handled the crisis best.

“We successfully completed these goals,” he said.

In response to the announcement, Litzman commended Bar Siman Tov “for his wonderful work, great investment and many achievements.” The outgoing director-general was a “full and active partner with me, as health minister, for five consecutive and intense years,” he said.

Litzman praised Bar Siman Tov’s management of the coronavirus crisis.

“We were required to make difficult decisions that led the State of Israel to victory in the fight against coronavirus... With God’s help and thanks to Bar Siman Tov’s resourcefulness and professional standards, we have managed the crisis so far, and I hope that this will continue and we reach a full victory soon,” he said.

Bar Siman Tov concluded his letter by warning the country that it has bought precious time, which should be used to prepare for a second wave of the virus.

“It is on us to use this period to continue and improve the system’s preparedness and strength for any challenges it might face,” he said.

Bar Siman Tov said he would remain in his role until his replacement is hired.