„Today, the Cabinet will vote on additional benefits to reduce the cost of living in Israel.

 The benefits that we will discuss today will reduce housing costs and travel on pubPM Netanyahu’s Remarks at the Start of the Weekly Cabinet Meeting
Following are Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s remarks at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting today (Sunday), 4.12.11:

„Today, the Cabinet will vote on additional benefits to reduce the cost of living in Israel. The benefits that we will discuss today will reduce housing costs and travel on public transportation, and are designed to assist in lowering gas and fuel prices. There is also additional news; those who buy products on the Internet will be exempt from taxes for purchases of up to NIS 1,000. I can already tell you that there is a proposal to increase this amount and make things easier for hundreds of thousands of citizens, if not more, who buy products over the Internet. All of these are additional steps that we are taking in continuation of the tax benefits that we have already approved, benefits that are worth hundreds of shekels a month.

We are capable of going this route thanks to the responsible way in which we have managed the Israeli economy, and we will continue to act responsibly as we give a genuine response to the socio-economic and security needs of the State of Israel in the face of the global economic upheaval and the geopolitical upheaval in our region.

These upheavals have other aspects as well. Several days ago, I visited Eilat and I heard the residents’ cry against the city’s being flooded with illegal infiltrators. One needs to stand there and listen to them, to hear the despair, there is no other word for it, the despair that rises from the mothers and fathers and business owners, who feel that they are losing their city and the ability to have a normative life, and who are concerned about going around the streets in the evening, and whose jobs are being taken away. Similar cries rise from other cities around the country, not only in the south, but in the center of the country, in Tel Aviv and its neighborhoods, and in many other places as well.

I see the phenomenon of being flooded by illegal, job-seeking infiltrators as a threat to the economy, to society, to security and to the delicate demographic fabric upon which the State of Israel is based. Following my visit to Eilat, I convened a special meeting of the ministerial team that is dealing with the various aspects of the problem. I am working to accelerate the completion of the fence that we decided upon last year. About half of it has been built and I asked that the holes be closed; I promised that the fence would be completed within one year. Teams are working on this and we have seen to it that the work will be carried out more efficiently.

At the same meeting, I directed that work be completed on the steps that will allow the imposition of heavier fines on employers. Those who employ infiltrators will be punished with very large fines. This is not now the case; this is about to happen. This is important because in the end, the incentive, the magnet that attracts illegal infiltrators, is no less important than the open border that we want to close.

We are determined to protect our border and our citizens’ jobs. This is the right of any country and it is the obligation of any government that is concerned for the future of its people.

Thank you.”
lic transportation, and are designed to assist in lowering gas and fuel prices. There is also additional news; those who buy products on the Internet will be exempt from taxes for purchases of up to NIS 1,000. I can already tell you that there is a proposal to increase this amount and make things easier for hundreds of thousands of citizens, if not more, who buy products over the Internet. All of these are additional steps that we are taking in continuation of the tax benefits that we have already approved, benefits that are worth hundreds of shekels a month.

 

We are capable of going this route thanks to the responsible way in which we have managed the Israeli economy, and we will continue to act responsibly as we give a genuine response to the socio-economic and security needs of the State of Israel in the face of the global economic upheaval and the geopolitical upheaval in our region.

 

These upheavals have other aspects as well. Several days ago, I visited Eilat and I heard the residents’ cry against the city’s being flooded with illegal infiltrators. One needs to stand there and listen to them, to hear the despair, there is no other word for it, the despair that rises from the mothers and fathers and business owners, who feel that they are losing their city and the ability to have a normative life, and who are concerned about going around the streets in the evening, and whose jobs are being taken away. Similar cries rise from other cities around the country, not only in the south, but in the center of the country, in Tel Aviv and its neighborhoods, and in many other places as well.

 

I see the phenomenon of being flooded by illegal, job-seeking infiltrators as a threat to the economy, to society, to security and to the delicate demographic fabric upon which the State of Israel is based. Following my visit to Eilat, I convened a special meeting of the ministerial team that is dealing with the various aspects of the problem. I am working to accelerate the completion of the fence that we decided upon last year. About half of it has been built and I asked that the holes be closed; I promised that the fence would be completed within one year. Teams are working on this and we have seen to it that the work will be carried out more efficiently.

 

At the same meeting, I directed that work be completed on the steps that will allow the imposition of heavier fines on employers. Those who employ infiltrators will be punished with very large fines. This is not now the case; this is about to happen. This is important because in the end, the incentive, the magnet that attracts illegal infiltrators, is no less important than the open border that we want to close.

 

We are determined to protect our border and our citizens’ jobs. This is the right of any country and it is the obligation of any government that is concerned for the future of its people.

 

Thank you.”