Posted on 03/06/22
| News Source: Arutz-7
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's flight to Moscow on Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest, was unusual in many ways. Bennett, who identifies as a religious Jew, was accompanied by Housing & Construction Minister Zeev Elkin, who is also observant, and the two used their time mid-flight to recite the Shabbat morning prayers.
According to Ari Kalman of Behadrey Haredim, upon landing in Moscow, Bennett and Elkin took a few minutes' interlude to conduct an abbreviated Shabbat meal, with challah that Elkin had brought with him from Jerusalem.
Upon his return to Israel, Bennett told fellow government ministers that he "did not offer a specific proposal, but only offered myself as an honest broker, a mediator whom both sides can trust, as they can other figures too," referring to other world leaders who have similarly attempted to advance a diplomatic solution between Russia and Ukraine.
A statement from the Prime Minister's Office reported that Bennett's visit was part of a joint German-Israeli mediation effort, with the Israeli and German leaders working together. The statement added that Putin was neither "irrational nor conspiratorial nor explosive" at the meeting between the two leaders.
According to a report on Channel 13 News, no photograph of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett together with Russian President Vladimir Putin was taken at their meeting on Shabbat (Saturday), as Bennett did not want to be photographed on the Jewish day of rest.
A senior government official told Channel 13's reporter that Bennett's trip to Moscow was not a "public relations exercise" but rather an event of international significance that was coordinated between the two leaders.
The official added that the meeting between Putin and Bennett yielded a certain benefit and facilitated the evacuation of Jews from the war zone and their immigration to Israel. However, exactly what Putin agreed to has yet to be revealed.