The Last Meeting Between Maran and Fuad - "No Leader in Israel Has Ever Achieved This"

Shortly after the passing of Maran Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, a special broadcast was held on the Hidabroot channel where public figures shared their personal connections and memories with Maran. However, it seems the most touching revelations came from the mouth of MK Eliezer (Fuad) Ben Eliezer, who passed away yesterday (Sunday). "First of all, I received thousands of slaps on the cheek from Maran," joked Fuad warmly in response to interviewer Rabbi Moshe Ben Lulu. "I loved him, I really loved him. I also loved his uniqueness. Today everyone talks about him being a party leader. Politics was far from him. All he cared about was Judaism. All he cared about was the Torah of Israel. I remember this from when I was the Minister of Construction and Housing – what did he talk to me about? He talked to me about synagogues, about mikvahs, and about providing a roof. This occupied him all the time."

"No Leader in Israel Has Ever Achieved This"

"By the way, another mistake" [often attributed to Maran], Fuad added, "he didn't distinguish between one Jew and another, between secular and non-secular, between ultra-Orthodox and non-ultra-Orthodox, all that mattered to him was Judaism, Judaism, Judaism... I was privileged with a great privilege. 30 years in his presence. And I dare say there was never a situation where the Rabbi asked me for something and I said no. Because I knew he did it out of love for Israel and because he cared for the people of Israel and the yeshiva students. Therefore, I did almost everything he asked me."

Rabbi Ben Lulu asked Fuad for "something small, between Fuad and Maran, perhaps the last meeting". Fuad replied, "At the last meeting, he thanked me for helping him convince people to vote for his son, who won as chief rabbi. And I knew that as soon as his son won, he said 'give me Fuad on the phone,' and he thanked me and thanked me and said 'bring him here.' I came, the rabbi hugged me, kissed me, and said 'Listen, we owe you a debt forever.' And I was happy to see him because I knew he was a bit sick. I saw the sparkle in his eyes, and I saw the joy of life. For me, that was everything."

To the question of whether the media tended to focus on various statements of Maran and miss his personality and present him in the wrong light, Fuad replied: "The real Maran was a courageous person. He wasn't afraid of anyone. When you look today at his halachic decisions, not everyone can do such a thing. For example, the matter of freeing agunot, I was then in the army, I was a brigadier general in the army, and I knew the pain of the agunot. He released all the agunot after the Yom Kippur War, I was there. Not only that, see the acknowledgment he gave to Ethiopian Jewry. But you know what? To your question, there is one and only answer: 850 thousand people accompanied him on his last journey. No leader in Israel has ever achieved this."