Former Defense Minister and Diaspora Minister Naftali Bennett spoke with Makor Rishon journalist Avital Indig at the Diaspora Conference of the Makor Rishon newspaper. During his remarks he addressed criticism of the discourse of Reform Judaism and said that "We must remember that all Jews are our brothers and sisters regardless of their views."
"I am not saying that Halakha [Jewish law] needs to be changed to please anyone, but certainly we need to speak to every Jew".
Bennett called on the state to do more for Diaspora Jewry as result of the crisis, caused by the coronavirus.
"Israel must immediately rise to this challenge and become a center of knowledge and assistance to our brothers all over the world - Jews from our streams. We need to help Jews."
In his view, the prime minister of Israel has two functions: "He is the Israeli prime minister for all its citizens, including Arabs and Jews, but he is also should be the leader of all the Jews in the world."
Bennett urged the government to campaign for at least half a million immigrants to Israel in the next eight years.
"If I would be prime minister, I would mark a goal: To campaign for the immigration of half a million Jews in eight years. The Israeli government must decide it wants to promote aliyah to Israel, so within eight years time, half a million Jews from the United States, France, Europe and South America will come."