Prime Minister Ehud Olmert expressed his condolences Friday to the family of former Chief Rabbi Avraham Shapira, as well as "his many disciples and the tens of thousands of people who hold his memory dear."
"Rabbi Shapira was the leader of a large public, that stood at the forefront of pioneering work and volunteerism in Israel," Olmert added. "Even when I disagreed with his views and even opposed [them]," he said, referring to Shapira's call to IDF soldiers to refuse orders in the 2005 Disengagement, "this does not mitigate his love for the nation of Israel and for the legacy of Israel."