Some took time to come to their senses, and then went out to comfort, others had conversations with their colleagues around the world, while some mostly gave media interviews. Two weeks into the war, we went through the meeting diaries of government ministers in order to assess their performance and the priorities they had set before their eyes in the face of the war and its challenges, from the outstanding to the vague and incomprehensible.
Foreign Minister Eli Cohen
Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, Photo: Oren Ben Hakon
Talks with 58 foreign ministers As early as 8:30 a.m. on Black Saturday morning, two meetings were convened to assess the situation at the Foreign Ministry. After that, for two weeks, the minister held talks with 58 foreign ministers, as well as ambassadorial tours, visits to war rooms, and more.
Cohen attended one funeral and came to comfort mourners with four of the victims' families. According to the diary, his work days are full of relevant activity, except for two Saturdays when there was almost no activity.
Minister of the Interior and Health Moshe Arbel
Interior Minister Moshe Arbel, Photo: Gideon Markowitz
Visits to the war room and meetings. During the first days of the war, Minister Arbel worked mainly in the Ministry of Health's war room and visited it daily for almost all days of the war. The same is true in the Shura camp, where the activity to identify the casualties takes place. He also visited evacuees in six hotels and set up service stations for the Ministry and the Population Authority. He held work meetings in five regional councils, and a Zoom meeting for all the heads of councils in the Southern District, and another for the Northern District. On 15 October, the post was transferred to Minister Uriel Bosu, by which time Arbel had managed to visit the wounded in nine hospitals. On Fridays and Saturdays, the minister hardly held any activity.
Tour of the envelope and the north.On the Sunday after the massacre, the minister held an emergency meeting regarding the state of the apartments near the Gaza Strip and preparations for evacuating the communities. The minister held many relevant meetings and working meetings with the municipality of Tiberias and Ma'a lot-Tarshiha. In Nahariya he visited the homes of the elderly. He also toured the envelope and met with residents and the families of the abductees. The minister attended one condolence service and two funerals. Worked on Fridays. Not on Shabbat.
Minister of Labor Yoav Ben-Tzur
MK Yoav Ben Tzur,
Discussion of compensation to the families of abductees. Minister Ben-Tsur's diary lists busy but also meager days, with a schedule that ends in the afternoon. For example, on the 9th of the month, the schedule ended at 17:00 P.M. The next day, 10 October, at 16.30pm, and 12 at 16pm. On the other days, the schedule ended around 00:19 P.M. During work hours, the minister held relevant meetings, visits to the casualty room, visits to the wounded at Sheba and Wolfson, a variety of discussions, a meeting regarding compensation to the families of the abductees, and a discussion regarding parental payments to daycare centers during the war. The minister condoled five mourning families and attended one funeral. He held work meetings in the municipalities of Ofakim, Ashkelon and Sderot, and did not work on Fridays and Saturdays.
Health Minister Uriel Bosso
The new Minister of Health Uriel Boso, photo: Danny Shem Tov
Jumped into the deep water at the Ministry of Health. Bosso was appointed Minister of Health a week after that Black Sabbath, so his diary refers to only one week. He spent his first two days on the job getting to know and study the Ministry of Health and its activities during the war. Over the next three days, the minister visited 11 hospitals, geriatric centers and mental health centers. He also attended one funeral and condolences for three families. In addition to meetings with CEO Bar Siman Tov and Sharon Alrai-Price, he held meetings on mental health and dealt with burial certificates of unidentified persons.
Minister of Agriculture Avi Dichter
Avi Dichter, Photo: Lior Mizrahi
Discussions on the abandonment of foreign workers. Many hours in the minister's diary appear under vague headlines of "Current Bureau on War" without elaboration. Dichter met with the chairman of the farmers and the Negev Farmers Association, and also held nine different meetings with heads of regional councils in the north and south. He held three discussions on the abandonment of foreign workers and a discussion on volunteers in agriculture and compensation. He comforted 11 grieving families, attended two funerals and visited the wounded in hospitals. In addition to office work, he participated in long cabinet meetings and finished work around 23:00 P.M., sometimes later.
Minister for the Advancement of the Status of Women May Golan
Minister May Golan, Photo: Mark Israel Salem
Dim and long meetings. The minister's diary is ostensibly full from morning to night, but it is full of vague activities that lasted for many hours. For example, on the Sunday after the massacre, she held a three-hour meeting on the subject of "Professional Team Meeting - Towards Redeployment in the Wake of an Iron Sword War."
This was followed by an "emergency work procedure meeting and examination of designated actions in light of the state of war," which, according to the diary, lasted five hours. The "Bureau Staff Meeting - Emergency Preparedness" lasted three hours. According to the diary, a nine-hour meeting dealt with "presenting the model and logistical preparations for operating the National Women's Helpline." The diary reported that Golan and her team handled inquiries for many hours. The minister comforted five grieving families, visited the wounded in Ichilov and was hospitalized for four days for a medical procedure.
Minister of the Negev and Galilee and National Resilience Yitzhak Wasserlauf
Minister Wasserlauf, Photo: Oren Ben Hakon
deals with the needs of minorities. Only on Sunday evening was there the first activity related to the crisis - "talks with council heads". Previously, the minister visited senior citizens in Bnei Brak. The next day he also held meetings with MKs. Only from noon on the second day of the massacre did he begin to deal with the crisis, meeting with parents of the missing and visiting the wounded and in the "One Heart" war room.
On the third day, for the first time, he held a meeting with the directors of the ministry regarding preparations for war. Subsequently, he held ten meetings with mayors, and also met with the leader of the Druze community, Sheikh Muwafaq Tarif, and with Ali Salem, the mayor of Nazareth, regarding the needs of the minorities. The minister attended six funerals, comforted eight mourning families and visited evacuees in three hotels. He finished his daily schedule around 22:00 P.M.
Minister of Housing Yitzhak Goldknopf
Minister of Housing Goldknopf, photo: Oren Ben Hakon
Tour of the envelope and the north. On the Sunday after the massacre, the minister held an emergency meeting regarding the state of the apartments near the Gaza Strip and preparations for evacuating the communities. The minister held many relevant meetings and working meetings with the municipality of Tiberias and Ma'a lot-Tarshiha. In Nahariya he visited the homes of the elderly. He also toured the envelope and met with residents and the families of the abductees. The minister attended one condolence service and two funerals. Worked on Fridays. Not on Shabbat.
Science Minister Ofir Akunis
Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology Akunis, Photo: Gideon Markowitz
Funerals and high-tech aid packages. Akunis has no direct role in the war effort, and for the first two days this is evident in the diary. He held mostly update talks, including with council heads, and his schedule ended early. During the two weeks there are two more days in which he finished his day in the afternoon, and on Saturdays there was no real activity. The office is also not really present at the event, except for a high-tech assistance package. However, the minister attended eight funerals, came to console nine families and made nine telephone condolence calls. He visited wounded people in six hospitals and spoke with three families of abductees.
Minister of Tourism Haim Katz
Photo: Lior Mizrahi (Archive) // MK Haim Katz. "As long as the need exists, we will benefit those who donated,"
Discussions on the establishment of a civilian war room. From the minister's diary, it is unclear exactly how he spends his day acting on behalf of the public. There are only about three activities in your calendar each day, one of which takes almost an entire day. For example, two days after the massacre, "Cutting the Situation – Conversations with Industry and Government Officials," from 10 a.m. to 00 p.m.
The next day, 10 October, "preparations for the establishment of a civilian war room", from 10:00 to 20:00. October 11 The "preparation" was changed to "setting up a war room" from 9:00 a.m. to 21:00 p.m. On 12 October, "Preparations for evacuation powers" from 15:00 to 20:00.
On the 15th, it was reported that the minister was in the ministry's operations room all day. According to the diary, the minister attended funerals or comforted mourners and met with only one mayor. The schedule mentions "meetings with council heads," but does not specify with whom. The minister's office said, "The minister holds meetings with all the officials at the headquarters, talks with mayors and relevant ministers. Naturally, it's hard to record every conversation."
Minister of Religious Services Michael Malkieli
Minister of Religious Affairs, Michael Malkieli, Photo: Jonathan Zindel/Flash90
Active around the clock. On the first day after the massacre, the minister's diary is filled with relevant meetings. For example, regarding the readiness of the refrigeration rooms, sitting at Lahav 433 regarding the process of identifying bodies, discussing emergency burial, discussing the procedure for providing information to families. In the days that followed, meetings and discussions, such as the establishment of a martyr collection station, a halachic discussion with the Chief Rabbis regarding emergency burial, shortening the process of obtaining death certificates, a temporary burial hearing, cremation, a discussion of shortening bureaucracy for families, and more.
The minister held five talks with the heads of the religious councils in the north and south responsible for the burial and five meetings with Lahav 433, which is responsible for identifying the bodies, comforted 11 mourning families, participated in five funerals and met twice with evacuees in hotels.
Meetings with evacuated residents in the first two days after the massacre It is unclear how the minister acted. There are discussions in his diary with the general name "Alignment". In the days that followed, a reconciliation was evident; The minister visited 33 hotels across the country for two weeks. On the 18th, he held a relevant discussion on people with disabilities, and visited the police and ministry operations room 105 several times.
Minister of Aliyah and Absorption Ofir Sofer
Religious Zionist faction MK Ofir Sofer, photo: Oren Ben Hakon
Also worked on Saturdays. Apart from visiting the wounded on the first day after the massacre, no special activity was recorded in the diary. Only on the 9th of the month did relevant activities begin – assessing the situation regarding Jewish communities around the world, talking and meeting with the heads of the New York and North American federations. The minister also worked on Saturdays and met with evacuees in hotels. In general, most of the minister's work, according to the diary, focused less on ministry affairs and more on civilians – visiting evacuees in eight hotels, wounded in eight hospitals, comforting nine mourning families, attending five funerals, and meeting with 11 council heads, including regarding evacuees in reception centers.
Culture Minister Miki Zohar
Minister Miki Zohar, Photo: Oren Ben Hakon
Discussions on economic reinforcement for artists. On the first day, he held an all-day meeting on the "functioning of the ministry in combat." The next day he conducted only media interviews. Even on 11 there was one relevant discussion and all the other activities were interviews. 12 "Synchronization of the Ministry of Culture with the Cultural Industry" for an hour and a visit to the war rooms.
A week after the massacre and still the schedule is meager: on the 15th day one hour of discussion by the minister's office staff. Meetings increased the next day, but the schedule didn't start until 11 a.m. In 17 full days under the title "Staff work - coordination and reaching bereaved families, abductees and missing persons".
On the 18th, relevant discussions were recorded, such as economic reinforcement for artists, a conversation with the Home Front Command about sports games in combat. The minister comforted nine grieving families, made six condolence phone calls, attended one funeral and visited one wounded person. Zohar does not work on Friday-Saturday. The minister's spokesman said: "The schedule does not include hundreds of calls to handle public inquiries."
Minister of Communications Shlomo Krei
Shlomo Karai, Photo: Haim Goldberg/Flash90
Mostly media interviews. On the first day after the massacre, the minister was besieged in his home near the Gaza Strip due to terrorist infiltration. The work didn't multiply too much after that.
In the early days, the minister held meetings that it is impossible to understand what they were dealing with, except for one that dealt with communication failures in the emergency situation, a meeting with the CEO of Motorola and cabinet discussions. On the fifth day, he filled the day mainly with media interviews. The diary is also not full later on: a meeting with the deputy attorney general about Al Jazeera, and on the same subject a discussion with the government press office, and another discussion about communication malfunctions.
Only on the 22nd of the month did the day seem packed with relevant activities, such as a discussion with telecommunications companies and another discussion about technological solutions for distance learning in schools. In total, he attended one funeral and comforted only two grieving families.
Minister of Social Affairs Yaakov Margi
Minister of Social Affairs Yaakov Margi, Photo: Oren Ben Hakon
Meetings with the evacuated residents. For the first two days after the massacre, it is unclear how the minister acted. There are discussions in his diary with the general name "Alignment". In the days that followed, a reconciliation was evident; The minister visited 33 hotels across the country for two weeks. On the 18th, he held a relevant discussion on people with disabilities, and visited the police and ministry operations room 105 several times.
Minister of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Amichai Shikli
Minister Amichai Shikli, Photo: Oren Ben Hakon
Briefings with international organizations. The first day was still calm, but there was a briefing for youth around the world who are active against anti-Semitism. Immediately afterwards there was a great deal of activity, such as a meeting with heads of Arab municipalities, a conversation with foreign reporters, a meeting with the director general of the global Aish Torah organization, a discussion of the Shin Bet, a discussion on the delegations project, a briefing of Jewish journalists around the world, a briefing for Fox News, the BBC and CNN, a briefing of Conservative organizations around the world, a conversation with the leaders of the Reform movement in the United States, conversations with heads of campuses around the world, and a meeting to start the testimonies project from the Gaza envelope that will be disseminated around the world. In addition, Shickley attended five funerals, comforted ten grieving families and visited evacuees at two hotels.
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