Izraeli PM Netanyahu’s Remarks at the Start of the Weekly Cabinet Meeting
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, this morning (Sunday, 10 November 2013), made the following remarks at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting, which was held in Sde Boker<www.goisrael.com/Tourism_Eng/Tourist%20Information/Discover%20Israel/Cities/Pages/Sde%20Boker.aspx> to mark 40 years since the passing of David Ben-Gurion<mfa.gov.il/MFA/AboutIsrael/State/Pages/David%20Ben-Gurion.aspx> and 50 years since the founding of Midreshet Sde Boker<www.boker.org.il/english/>:
„Over the weekend I spoke with US President Barack Obama, Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister David Cameron. I told them that according to the information reaching Israel, the apparent deal is bad and dangerous. It is dangerous not just for us, it is also dangerous for them. It is dangerous for world peace because it lowers the pressure of sanctions that took years to build while on the other hand, Iran, in practice, retains its nuclear enrichment capability as well as the ability to advance along the plutonium track. I emphasize that the proffered deal does not include the dismantling of even one centrifuge. I asked all the leaders – why the haste? I proposed that they wait, that they consider the matter seriously. This is an historic process and these are historic decisions. I asked to wait. It is good that this is what was decided in the end but I am not deluding myself – there is a strong desire to reach an agreement, I hope not an agreement at any price, and if there is to be an agreement then it needs to be a good agreement and not a bad agreement. I hope that they will reach a good agreement and we will do our utmost to convince the major powers and the leaders to avoid a bad agreement.
This meeting at Sde Boker expresses our commitment to develop the Negev and cancel the periphery, to link the Negev and the Galilee to the center of the country, and to expedite the development of both of these areas. Today, we will decide on two new communities that we would like to build in the Negev and on a visitor’s center in Be’er Sheva. Of course, this is in addition to the briefings on continued development, moving IDF bases to the south, building railroads and expressways, and turning Be’er Sheva into a global cyber center, which will expedite the development of the entire Negev, which Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, very much wanted to do, and which we will greatly expedite with a combination of government investments and market forces. These are very powerful engines and they are already operating, and they will operate, of course, in the future as well. Thus we will be briefed and we will also make decisions.
Today, we mark 75 years since Kristallnacht<www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/kristalltoc.html>. It is very disturbing that precisely now we are witness to the phenomenon of swastikas and Nazi-style salutes on Palestinian networks. This is a direct result of the continued wild incitement against the State of Israel. This is not the way to achieve peace. Neither will peace be achieved by international pressure on Israel. No pressure will lead us to abandon our vital interests. An agreement
