Communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser)
At the weekly Cabinet meeting today (Sunday, 20 October 2013):
1. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Interior Minister Gideon Saar and Senior Citizens Minister Uri Orbach made the following remarks:
Prime Minister Netanyahu:
"On Tuesday, we will choose mayors and local council heads in the State of Israel; these are important elections for citizens. To a large degree, the citizens decide the direct contact, direct management and direct leadership in their communities and, therefore, it is very important to go with one message even though it is not original, but it is still important – go out and vote."
Interior Minister Gideon Saar:
"It is important to vote, first of all because local authorities have a dramatic influence on our daily lives in the most basic areas, from cleaning the streets to educating our children. They affect almost every aspect of life.
The decision is for five years, not for an indeterminate period of time. It is for five years. We at the Interior Ministry have led a campaign to encourage people to vote, to participate in the local authority elections, in which voting will be with two ballots. This is no longer the case in general elections and, therefore, not everyone knows this. One ballot is for the local council and one for the council chairperson or mayor, and this is very important. There are very many young people; in contrast to Knesset elections, 17-year-olds are allowed to vote. Most 12th-graders can vote in these elections. The local councils, as a rule, are getting stronger. They are delving into matters that did not exist in the past, or almost did not exist, including public security and planning and building reform. They are likely to get even stronger, as they are throughout the Western world. Therefore, it is very important for Israeli citizens to vote and make their influence felt. I congratulate you, Mr. Prime Minister, for starting the Cabinet meeting with this message."
Prime Minister Netanyahu:
"We have been very busy for four years on behalf of our senior citizens. This month we are marking senior citizens month. There has been a great and welcome change here; life expectancy in Israel is among the highest in the world. It is high on the list, women a little more than men, but men too. We are living longer and living better. But this also presents us with a very significant challenge: How to keep our senior citizens productively busy or how they will keep themselves busy? I mean keeping busy in two ways – actual employment, but this does not belong to our discussion today, however we will discuss it. We will discuss employment, initiatives, respectable and remunerative economic activity for all senior citizens who want it. The second thing is voluntary activity; this will be the subject of today's discussion."
Senior Citizens Minister Urbach:
"Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister. Today, we will brief the Cabinet on the activities of the ministry regarding the welcome phenomenon of an aging population. In the proposal that we will submit today for Cabinet approval, we are proposing a track in which senior citizens, pensioners, will have the possibility of doing service in relevant fields, in all fields of government ministries. The Education Ministry is a full partner in this initiative. Citizens who worked for 40-45 years will certainly be able to give another year to themselves and society. This says that senior citizens are not extraneous to the state but are citizens of the state. They are assets for this voluntary framework which sometimes could lead to some kind of part-time employment.
The goal of our ministry, of the Prime Minister and of the government is to change the attitude toward senior citizens. They have not finished with their role in the population. They are senior citizens with vast experience and abilities and we will not plan the entire future, the additional 20-30 years of retirees, that is what the inter-ministerial committee will do, we are liable to run into actuarial difficulties, in the fields of employment, health and support care. "
Prime Minister Netanyahu:
"Last week saw the start of an additional round of talks between the major powers and Iran. We must not forget that the Iranian regime has systematically misled the international community.
In 2006, Iran had 167 centrifuges. Today, despite all the bans and all the promises, they have over 18,000 centrifuges, i.e. the number of centrifuges has increased over a hundred-fold during the talks in which they have been called upon to halt the production of centrifuges related to enrichment.
Despite strong UN Security Council decisions that bar them from this enrichment process and from producing centrifuges – they are continuing. I think that in this situation as long as we do not see actions instead of words, the international pressure must continue to be applied and even increased. The greater the pressure, the greater the chance that there will be a genuine dismantling of the Iranian military nuclear program. If the pressure is reduced, the chance will be accordingly smaller.
I would also like to reiterate that there is a danger of granting international legitimacy to a recalcitrant regime that is now participating in the mass slaughter of civilians – men, women and children – in Syria and has done so over the past two years, a regime that is currently continuing a constant campaign of terrorism on five continents, a regime that calls for the destruction of Israel and which ignores and grossly violates the decisions of the UN Security Council on the nuclear issue. I think that the correct approach toward such a regime is to be wary and increase the pressure."
2. Senior Citizens Minister Uri Orbach and Senior Citizens Ministry Director-General Aharon Azoulay briefed the Cabinet on the issue of senior citizens and presented their recommendations (see above).
3. Pursuant to Article 38 of
Basic Law: The Government, the Cabinet decided to propose that the Knesset declare a state of emergency for a period of one year, in continuation of the Knesset's previous declaration, on 8 July 2013, to be valid until 31 December 2013.
5. The Cabinet discussed the establishment of a government company to advance rental housing within the framework of the national housing project.
6. The Cabinet discussed compensation arrangements for those who leave public service.
7. Social Welfare and Social Services Minister Meir Cohen and Social Welfare and Social Services Ministry Director General Menachem Wagshel briefed the Cabinet on the interim report of the inter-ministerial team on care for people with autism.
8. Pursuant to Article 12 of the 1959 State Service Law (Appointments), the Cabinet decided to appoint Avi Berger as Communications Ministry Director General effective 1 November 2013.