Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara attended the Maimouna festivities in Or Akiva this evening.
Prime Minister Netanyahu said:
"First I would like to wish everyone a happy holiday. Enjoy and eat! I would like to tell you that my family – Sara, the boys and myself – traveled during the holiday like so many families in Israel. We saw the great momentum that one sees in our country. Everywhere you go you see progress – roads being paved, communities expanding; it seems that some of them need help in expanding even faster. There is very great momentum in the State of Israel and we are committed to continuing it by seeing to three things.
First, the unity of the nation. This finds expression on Maimouna. The dust of the elections has settled. We must strengthen unity among the citizens and people of Israel, and this we will do.
Second, the welfare of the people. We are committed to continuing the impressive accelerated economic development of the State of Israel. However, this must be accompanied by lowering the cost of living, especially housing prices. To this end, we must increase supply; we must increase supply by many ways, and thus we will do. We promised to do this and this will be the first mission of the government that – with G-d's help – I will quickly form.
Third, perhaps first, we must see to the security of the country. We face great and manifold challenges, the greatest of which has been, and remains, Iran's effort to develop nuclear weapons capabilities. To my regret, all of the things I warned about vis-à-vis the framework agreement that was put together in Lausanne are coming true before our eyes. This framework gives the leading terrorist state in the world a certain path to nuclear bombs, which would threaten Israel, the Middle East and the entire world. We see that Iran is being left with significant nuclear capabilities; it is not dismantling them, it is preserving them. We also see that the inspection is not serious. How can such a country be trusted?! As of now there is no real monitoring. We see that the sanctions are being lifted, immediately, according to Iran's demand, and this is without Iran having changed its policy of aggression everywhere, not just against Israel, but in Yemen, the Bab el-Mandeb, the Middle East and through global terrorist networks. The most dangerous terrorist state in the world must not be allowed to have the most dangerous weapons in the world. Therefore, we are committed to try and prevent the bad agreement and replace it with a good agreement.
I would like to wish all of you that your wishes come true, that our country continues to flourish, prosper and grow and I assure you that I will do everything to see to national unity, the national welfare and the security of Israel.
A happy holiday to all. Eat and enjoy!"
Photos: Kobi Gideon, GPO.
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