Deputy of the Prime Minister of Israel
The Deputy Prime Minister of Israel is an official title given to a minister in the government. It is largely honorary, with no fixed term, and there can be more than one Deputy Prime Minister at the same time.
There are four related roles: Acting Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, Alternate Prime Minister, and Vice Prime Minister. Acting Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, and Alternate Prime Minister are constitutional positions. The Vice Prime Minister is an honorary, extra‑constitutional title that carries no formal legal powers.
If the Prime Minister is temporarily unable to work, the Acting Prime Minister and the Alternate Prime Minister take over the duties, while the Deputy Prime Minister remains an honorary title. The office of Deputy Prime Minister was created in 1963 when Abba Eban was appointed. There is no limit to how many deputies a Prime Minister can appoint, so governments have sometimes had several deputies at once.
The Basic Law: the Government (2001) also defines the designated Acting Prime Minister. This person can act as Prime Minister for up to 100 consecutive days if the PM is temporarily incapacitated. There is usually only one designated Acting Prime Minister, and if none is designated, the cabinet votes to appoint one. The designated minister can summon cabinet meetings when the Prime Minister is away.
The term “Vice Prime Minister” is sometimes used in English, but it is not a formal government role. It was created for Shimon Peres and has no real legal authority. In 2022, Aryeh Deri was appointed Vice Prime Minister and served until his dismissal in 2023.
The current Deputy Prime Minister is Yariv Levin, who has held the post since 29 December 2022.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 13:51 (CET).