Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar was interviewed on Thursday by Army Radio and discussed, among other things, the death of the late poet and songwriter Yehonatan Geffen, who passed away Wednesday night.
When Zohar was asked which of Geffen's songs he particularly liked, the minister dodged the question and said that "there is no doubt that Yehonatan Geffen has written many songs. I expressed my condolences to the family and even if there are political disagreements, that's fine. He has enriched our civilized world with special and worthy things."
When the presenter repeated her question after receiving no answer, Zohar replied: "Now you're taunting me, I don't want to randomly choose a song. I know the songs and I've heard some of them and read some of them, but I don't necessarily remember all their names."
Who was Yehonatan Geffen?
Not only was Geffen a songwriter, journalist, author, poet, playwright, actor and satirist, but he was also an Israeli cultural icon.
Born on Kibbutz Nahalal to Aviva Dayan and Israel Geffen, he had a distinguished army career as a paratrooper serving under Matan Vilnai. His mother was Moshe Dayan's sister and like most Dayans, Geffen was politically active but did not become a legislator.
Geffen became known for his quick wit and sense of humor and often wrote one-man skits in which he would perform himself as well as producing several plays.
He had a regular column in Maariv and wrote lyrics to songs for many Israeli singers.
On the day of his passing, Israel's radios were filled with his songs, bringing childhood memories to many Israelis.
Greer Fay Cashman contributed to this report.