Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Aliyah and Integration Minister Pnina Tamano Shata announced on Monday the appointment of Meir Spiegler to head the National Task Force on the absorption of refugees from Ukraine, Russia and the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States.
Spiegler, 63, currently serves as director general of the National Insurance Institute. His previous roles included serving as director general of the Jewish National Fund and Religious Services Ministry.
“The State of Israel was founded to be the safest place in the world for the Jewish people; this is the heart of our purpose,” Bennett said in a statement explaining the impetus for the task force and the selection of Spiegler—”a man of action who has served the State of Israel in a variety of public-sector positions”—to head it.
“Jews fleeing places of danger need to know that they have an open door and a warm home,” he added. “Our internal bureaucracy cannot place obstacles in their way.”