Bennett: We must do everything we can to end the human tragedy in Ukraine

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett says everything must be done to stop the tragedy of the war in Ukraine, in a reference to his efforts to mediate.

“As long as the candle is burning, we need to make every effort,” says Bennett in brief comments at the end of his speech at a conference, referring to an old tale in which a cobbler said he could keep fixing shoes as long as his candle kept burning.

In line with his policy of not mentioning Russia by name when speaking about the war, Bennett refers instead to the human cost of the conflict in his remarks at Channel 12’s Influencers Conference.

“There’s a terrible human tragedy, more terrible that we expected to see [in this period]. We need to do everything to stop it,” Bennett says.

Bennett, along with Housing and Construction Minister Ze’ev Elkin who serves as his Russian translator, flew to Moscow to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday. Bennett said that during the meeting he discussed the Ukraine war and Iran nuclear talks. He has spoken with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky three times since then.