Eil Waldman: "Very proud to receive the Israel Prize, I will shake hands with anyone who contacts me" Waldman made headlines after Education Minister Yoav Kish worked to cancel this year's Israel Prize due to the fact that Waldman was one of the recipients of the prize. Waldman also said that "our first priority is to return the abductees and we must do everything to return them to Israel" "We need to destroy Hamas and exile everyone who remains alive in Gaza," he said.