Natan Sharansky and Sharansky was appointed Minister of Jerusalem Affairs. From March 2003 – May 2005, he was Israel's Minister without Portfolio, responsible for Jerusalem, social and Jewish diaspora affairs. Under this position Sharansky chaired a secret committee that approved the confiscation of East Jerusalem property of West Bank Palestinians. This decision was reversed after an outcry from the Israeli left and the international community. Previously he served as the Deputy Prime Minister of Israel, Minister of Housing and Construction since March 2001, Interior Minister of Israel (July 1999 – resigned in July 2000), Minister of Industry and Trade (1996–1999). He resigned
Eden Natan-Zada of Natan-Zada and emphasized the tragedy of his death. Some Israeli media outlets initially suggested that Natan-Zada be buried in the West Bank settlement of Kiryat Arba, where Baruch Goldstein, who committed Cave of the Patriarchs massacre 11 years earlier, is buried. Natan-Zada's body resided for two days in the Abu-Kabir morgue, pending an appeal to Prime Minister Sharon by his parents. On 7 August 2005, the Prime Minister's Bureau overruled Meir Nitzan's ban against burial in Rishon LeZion, and decreed that Zada should be buried in the civilian cemetery there. He was buried in the Gordon neighborhood. Because of