“Miri Regev has a problem with violating the Sabbath as a representative of the State of Israel,” said her spokeswoman. “She herself does not keep Sabbath, but when she represents all of Israel’s citizens, she does not want to offend religious citizens by violating the Sabbath.”

The ceremony was scheduled to end on Friday night, and the distance back to Regev’s hotel—an hour-long drive—rendered walking back impossible. “We appealed to the Israel Olympic Committee in an effort to find a hotel closer to the ceremony that would allow Minister Regev to attend without violating the Sabbath, but our efforts were unsuccessful due to security reasons,” continued her spokeswoman. ...