At the ministerial exchange ceremony at the Transportation Ministry on Sunday, outgoing Minister Yisrael Katz sought to give a tip to his replacement, Bezalel Smotrich.
"I'll give you a tip that will save you a headache. Ask the legal advisor of the ministry for his opinion and if possible, run with the idea," Katz said at the start of his remarks.
"I remember visiting Hevron and seeing the neglected road leading to the Cave of the Patriarchs - the origin of the Jewish people, a place where our forefathers and foremothers have been buried there for thousands of years. I said, 'How can it be that hundreds of thousands come and cannot reach the Cave of the Patriarchs in a normal way?'” he continued.
"I gave an order to the people of the ministry to fix the road and they told me that one minister tried and that another minister tried and they asked me according to which criteria should we use to fix the road to the Cave of the Patriarchs, and I told them: according to the Jewish criterion."
"A criterion of a nation that wants to connect and reach the graves of its forefathers and foremothers," Katz explained. "Lo and behold: The legal advisor here at the ministry found the Jewish criterion and paved the road, and even the army helped. We follow the law and the procedures and it's important to make sure things are done."