Additional details about the secret trip of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett to Moscow on Shabbos were revealed on Sunday night.
The delegation members boarded the plane and took off on Shabbos morning at 8 a.m. Bennett and Housing Minister Ze’ev Elkin, who like Bennett is religious, began the trip by davening Shacharis.
After arriving in Moscow and just before the meeting with Putin at the Kremlin, the delegation members stopped for a few minutes, made Kiddush and had a brief seudah with challos that Elkin brought from home.
Before the meeting began, Bennett requested not to be photographed since it was Shabbos.
Bennett did not reveal the details of his discussion with Putin but sources involved in the meeting said that Putin will not agree to a ceasefire until Ukraine demilitarizes, Channel 12 News reported.
Additionally, unlike some who believe that Putin has lost his sanity, Bennett found Putin to be perfectly rational at the meeting. A source quoted by Channel 13 News said Putin “was not irrational, was not theorizing about conspiracies, and did not display rage attacks.”
A former senior Mossad official told Kol Chai that Putin was the one who requested that Bennett travel to Moscow.
“In my opinion, Bennett had to respond positively to Putin’s request,” he said. “He couldn’t say no. In general, you can’t turn down any mission that even has the smallest chance of saving millions of lives.”
On the other hand, many say that Bennett has no chance of influencing Putin and some believe that Putin is using him to bolster his image. This concern was expressed by US officials. Some also express fear that Bennett’s association with Putin can harm Israel.
Former Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon told Radio 103FM on Monday morning that Israel must ensure that it’s not viewed as lending legitimacy to Putin. “The West sees our rapprochement with Putin and raises an eyebrow,” he said.
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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7 Responses
BS
The west knows on which side Israel is but any meeting to deescalate tensions should be done
why does he wear his yarmulke so far back?-he is the only person i have ever seen that does that.
FOR ALL THOSE WHO RUSHED TO BE MOTZEY LAZ ON HIM, HE WAS TRYING TO SAVE LIVES. PLEASE DONT TALK IF YOU DONT KNOW
Bennet’s not allowing photos because of Shabbos reminds me of the story when someone braught a PIG to a Shoichet because he only ate food that was kosherly slaughtered
Woow
What a tzadik he breaks Shabbat publicly and then prays whicj is rabbinical.
Unless you’re going to go with the opinion he is not really Jewish as his mother converted with reform which obviously is fake
I see lots of chasidim here! (person who refuses to break shabbos to save life or refuses to tocuh a drowning woman is called chasid shoteh).
Elkin pulled out a challa? ? Where are all the gushing declarations of “Kiddush Hashem?”