Jacob Margi

Jacob Margi was born in 1960 in Rabat

Margi was born in Rabat, Morocco, to Meir and Alice Margi, and has 8 brothers and sisters. His family immigrated to Israel in 1962 as part of Operation Yachin, and he grew up in Beersheba.

He served in the Southern Command signal battalion. After his discharge he worked for a time at Bank Leumi.

Aryeh Deri brought him into Shas in 1993. From 1993 to 2003 he chaired the Beersheba religious council, and he became director general of Shas in 2001. He entered the Knesset in 2003 and later chaired the Shas faction.

He was Minister of Religious Services from 2009 to 2013, where his appointments to religious councils drew controversy. His February 2016 visit to Crimea caused a crisis with Ukraine, which opened a criminal investigation against him. He also chaired the Education and Economy committees.

In 2022 he became Minister of Welfare and Social Affairs and resigned in July 2025 when Shas left the government. He then became Deputy Speaker of the Knesset, and in May 2026 said he would not run again. He lives in Sde Tzvi, is married to Shoshana and has 2 children.