The Ministry of Religious Services (), formerly the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Ministry of Religions, is a government ministry of Israel that handles Jewish and other religious affairs.
The Ministry of Religious Services appoints religious councils, and covers 40% of the shortfall in approved budgets for religious facilities and services; grants financial assistance to religious schools and yeshivas; plans, and finances, the construction and renovation of synagogues and ritual baths; supervises holy places; organizes Torah teaching activities and outreach; organizes public religious celebrations; cultivates religious ties with Diaspora Jewry; certifies kashrut in public and government institutions; coordinates religious services of non-Jewish groups in Israel; plans supplementary religious education for under-privileged youth; provides Jewish ritual articles to new immigrants, schools, and the needy; and provides budgets for the Chief Rabbinate and rabbinical courts.
The Ministry was included in the provisional government, and was initially known as the Ministry of Religions and War Victims. Upon the formation of the second government on 8 October 1951 it became the Ministry of Religions. On 5 August 1981 it was renamed the Ministry of Religious Affairs.
In 2003, the Ministry of Religious Affairs was abolished. Its departments were split between other ministries while the newly-established National Authority for Religious Services within the Prime Minister's Office took its place. The Prime Mnister's Office was also placed in charge of executing several laws which mentioned the ministry. Between 2006 and 2008, Yitzhak Cohen served as a minister in the Prime Minister's Office, and was responsible for Religious Services. The ministry was re-established in 2008 as the Ministry of Religious Services.
The Religious Services Minister of Israel (, Sar LeShirutei Dat) is the political head of the Ministry of Religious Services and a relatively minor position in the Israeli cabinet.
Most office holders have been religious Jews, though some were secular. Haim Yosef Zadok, a secular Jew, served twice, in 1974 and 1977. During his short stints, Zadok worked to streamline the operation of the rabbinical courts and strengthen relations with the religious leaders of all faiths. Zerach Warhaftig was the longest serving minister, holding the post for over 12 years between 1961 and 1974. In Benjamin Netanyahu's government the portfolio changed hands six times, with four people holding the post (Netanyahu three times and Eli Suissa twice).