Netanyahu's inner circle is now almost entirely religious, cabinet secretary says

Government Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs noted that, in recent years, "almost everyone [working closely with] the prime minister is religious," during a conference appearance on Tuesday. 

Fuchs spoke on "Religious Jews in Senior Positions: Dilemmas and Challenges" at the second annual conference held at Jerusalem's International Conference Center by Zomet Institute and Makor Rishon. 

He described his experience working in the early days of the Israel-Hamas war at the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv, including working on Shabbat. He said that he and other religious Jews in the same situation had to make hard judgments on which work activities were "life-saving" and therefore permissible on Shabbat when they would normally be forbidden, and which were not life-saving and could wait until Shabbat ended.

For those who did not use electricity on Shabbat, for example, the card-swipe-activated locks on all the building's doors proved a challenge. Fuchs also said they had difficulty forming a minyan, the ten adult men needed to lead full prayer services. 

'I felt that was very important to add the dimension of faith'

Fuchs also noted with pride that he instituted a policy of having a prayer for IDF soldiers said before the cabinet approves any dangerous military operation, distributed copies of the book of Psalms for people to recite, and added "b'siyata d'shmata" ["with God's help"] to the printouts of all of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speeches. 

"I felt that was very important to add the dimension of faith to everything that took place during my tenure, particularly during the war," Fuchs said.

"Eventually, we made sure that everyone around the prime minister would be religious," Fuchs added. "Today, almost all of them are: the chief of staff, the head of the National Security Council, the deputy head of the National Security Council, and others."

He said he was particularly impressed by Netanyahu's openness to religious practices, given that the prime minister himself is not religious.

"I think that is a good thing for someone who is the leader of the country," he said.