Rabbi Haim Druckman, spiritual leader of the religious Zionist movement in Israel, died on Sunday aged 90 after contracting Covid-19.
For decades Rabbi Druckman was the most important figure in the religious Zionist movement, which represents roughly 12 per cent of Israel’s Jewish population.
“The Hadassah hospital announces with sorrow the death of Rabbi Haim Druckman,” the facility said, adding that he had been in hospital for 10 days.
Rabbi Druckman was a mentor to politician Bezalel Smotrich from the Religious Zionism political bloc, an extreme-right alliance.
Mr Smotrich is set to be finance minister in incoming premier Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government. “The Jewish people have lost one of the spiritual giants of his generation, a just (person), an educator, a man who dedicated his life to the Torah, to the Jewish people and the land of Israel,” Mr Smotrich said.
Mr Netanyahu expressed his condolences to Rabbi Druckman’s family, saying that Israel “has lost a great spiritual leader”.
Born in Poland in 1932, Rabbi Druckman escaped deportation during World War II and migrated to Palestine in 1944.
Read the article in The Australian (AFP).