Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Monday attended a meeting of the Ministerial Committee on Aliyah and Integration, chaired by Aliyah and Integration Minister Pnina Tamano-Shata (Blue and White).
At the start of the meeting, Bennett remarked, "The implications of the war are reaching everywhere, to us as well. We in the State of Israel have absorbed, as of now, hundreds of refugees, some of them Jews, most of them not. Naturally, the State of Israel will focus on Jewish refugees."
"The State of Israel was founded as a state that is the safest place in the world for Jews. This is the heart of its purpose; therefore, we will focus on this of course."
He added: "We must see to it that those same Jews who escape from places of danger will be welcomed here in the State of Israel in the best way, that they feel an open door and a warm home. Our internal bureaucracy cannot create obstacles. We must know how to overturn worlds and cut through bureaucracy in order to carry out this historic mission."
"We must see how all of the elements here join in the historic opportunity, led by Aliyah and Integration Minister Pnina Tamano-Shata, who is leading the efforts on the matter, together with our ministerial colleagues, in order to ensure two things: One, to reach Jews in distress, to reach them in the field and make things easier for them, that they should not need to go to Nativ for this and afterwards to the consulate for that, and this is bureaucracy in wartime.
"Two, to integrate them here in the State of Israel in the best way possible, so that they call their families and say 'Come, come because it's good here.' And this is from all aspects – housing, education, employment."
"The State of Israel is a refuge for Jews in distress," Bennett emphasized. "This is our purpose. The State of Israel has done this more than once in its history and we will carry out this sacred task this time as well."