 On 8 April 1993 he became Deputy Minister of Housing and Construction, a post he held until Binyamin Netanyahu formed a Likud-led government in 1996.Following the 1996 elections, Ben-Menachem became chairman of the committee on Drug Abuse.He was placed 27th on the One Israel list (an alliance of Labor, Gesher and Meimad) for the May 1999 elections, and lost his seat when the alliance won only 26 mandates.