PM Netanyahu's Remarks at the Start of the Weekly Cabinet Meeting 12.7.15
Following is an excerpt from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's remarks at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting: "The ruler of Iran, Khameini, is quoted as saying that Iran needs to plan to fight the US regardless of whether there is an agreement. The President of Iran, Rohani, stands at the head of the march of hatred in the streets of Tehran, in which US and Israeli flags were burned, and in which many chanted 'Death to America' and 'Death to Israel.' All of this is happening as the parade of concessions to Iran continues in Vienna, concessions even on issues that had been marked as red lines in the Lausanne package, which is a bad deal in its own right.
It paves Iran's way to many nuclear bombs and gives it hundreds of billions of dollars for its terrorism and conquest machine, thereby endangering the peace of the entire world.
Iran does not hide its intention to continue its murderous aggression even against those with whom it is negotiating. Perhaps there is someone among the great powers who is prepared to capitulate to this reality that Iran is dictating, which includes its unending calls for the destruction of Israel – we will not pay the price for this.
On Friday afternoon, I went to Ashkelon and met with the family of Avra Mengistu. We are doing everything in our ability to bring Avra back to Israel. We are also in contact with the family of an additional Israeli citizen, who also crossed the border into the Gaza Strip, in order to bring him back to Israel too.
We expect the international community, which is constantly calling for humanitarian aid for the residents of Gaza, to intervene and demand the most simple and basic humanitarian assistance from Hamas – returning to Israel its two citizens.
Last Thursday, I called for the convening of roundtable discussions led by Cabinet Secretary Avichai Mandelblit and Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky on a range of issues regarding all streams of Judaism. I also requested that representatives of the streams participate in the discussions. Israel is a home for all Jews. The Government of Israel serves all Israeli citizens – secular and religious – regardless of which stream they come from.
Photo: kobi tsarfati
