(Communicated by the Prime Minister's Foreign Media Adviser)
Following are Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's remarks at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting today (Sunday, 20 March 2022):
"Today, the leader of our generation, Rabbi Kanievsky, is being laid to rest. His passing is a great loss to the Jewish people.
“Many have spoken about his self-denial: The simple apartment, the modest and sparing way of life. I saw this with my own eyes when I visited him – the renunciation of the material in favor of the spiritual.
“The large-scale mourning is a uniquely Jewish moment: The cultural heroes of the Torah world are not material giants, they are giants of the spirit. They are people who have dedicated their lives to Torah and mitzvot, to in-depth study and the preservation of tradition.
“The name of Rabbi Kanievsky will be remembered as an important part of the Torah history of the people of Israel: The son of the Steipler and the nephew of the Chazon Ish, he continued in their path, after the Holocaust, in the Land of Israel, preserving the Torah world of the destroyed communities of Europe. May his memory be blessed.
“The funeral is a large-scale event, and we must take care that it does not end, Heaven forbid, in a large-scale disaster. Therefore, I call on those attending the funeral not to crowd and not to push. The trauma of the Mt. Meron disaster is still fresh for us. This tragedy cannot recur. I ask everyone to show personal responsibility and – mainly – to watch over the children.
“The Israel Police and the rescue services are ready, and I ask that we get through this day peacefully.
“On another issue, we are very concerned about the United States' intention to give in to Iran's outrageous demand and remove the IRGC from the list of terrorist organizations, the FTO.
“The IRGC are the largest and most murderous terrorist organization in the world. Unlike ISIS, or other organizations, it is backed by a state.
“This is not just an Israeli problem. Other countries – allies of the United States in the region – face this organization day in and day out.
“In recent years, they have fired missiles at peaceful countries and launched UAVs at Israel and other countries.
“Even now, the IRGC terrorist organization is trying to murder certain Israelis and Americans around the world.
“Unfortunately, there is still determination to sign the nuclear deal with Iran at almost any cost – including saying that the world's largest terrorist organization is not a terrorist organization.
“This is too high a price.
“Even if this unfortunate decision is made, the State of Israel will continue to treat the IRGC as a terrorist organization and will continue to act against it as we do against terrorist organizations. As usual, our future will be determined by our actions, not words.”