(Communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser)

At the weekly Cabinet meeting today (Sunday, 22 December 2013):

1. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Education Minister Shai Piron made the following remarks:

Prime Minister Netanyahu:
"We do not need any special event in order to discuss the release of Jonathan Pollard. We are dealing with it. I am dealing with it, with all US presidents, including President Obama, all the time, including now. We hope that the conditions will be created that will enable us to bring Jonathan home. This is neither conditional on, nor related to, recent events, even though we have given our opinion on these developments.

Illegal migrants cannot be allowed to take the law into their own hands. We will enforce the law and we will deport them according to law. It must be understood that the State of Israel cannot absorb those seeking work. While we certainly treat genuine refugees with respect and uphold our obligations under the international commitment on this issue, we cannot allow an open border for illegal labor migrants from Africa or any other place. We will not allow this. We blocked illegal migration and we are committed to deporting those who succeeded in migrating here before we blocked the border, and we will carry out this commitment, if not down to the last migrant then certainly regarding most of them. This is both our intention and our mission."

Education Minister Piron briefed the Cabinet on the main points of his ministry's multi-year plan 'The Other is Me'.

Education Minister Piron: "Today, as part of a process that will run for several weeks, we are beginning a comprehensive educational dialogue within the education system, entitled 'The Other is Me'. In the coming weeks, we will present to the Cabinet a new course of study for Israeli children, from pre-school through 12th grade. In the first stage, the goal is to build on the work of previous education ministers and lead Israel into being an exemplary society, a society of values, in which everyone, every person, every pupil, every boy and girl, has a place in the education system.

The 'umbrella' entitled 'The Other is Me' is not a project but a new language that will unite the Israeli education system and find expression in four parallel tracks:

The first track is character traits and the desired and proper behavior among people. It will fight racism and will create a situation in which every person, regardless of color, sexual preference and religious outlook will have a place in society.

The second item is the ability to create a substantive relationship between the various communities in Israel – Israeli Arabs, the ultra-orthodox, national religious, secular – whoever lives here will know that it is possible to live together.

The third item is to enable every pupil in Israel to express his talents and abilities, whether it is in an academic framework or a professional-technological framework, or in any context through which his excellence may find expression.

The fourth item, in effect, is to explicitly define learning and render it meaningful.

This is a change in discourse that was summed up by our sages simply as 'And love your neighbor as yourself.' We believe that ab exemplary society cannot be forged from a divided society, and that the unity of a society is not be found in blurring [distinctions] but in the ability of all of us to recognize the value and specialness of everyone.

As we arrived to this Cabinet meeting, we saw the work of Eyal, Tamar, Basmat and their friends. I would like to thank them and express the hope that the dialogue, the language of 'The Other is Me', will reach every student in the educational system. Thank you."

Prime Minister Netanyahu:

"Thank you. I would like to commend this project and the emphasis that you are giving. I do not know if we will ever reach 'And love your neighbor as yourself' but our sages also said 'Do not do to your neighbor what is hateful to yourself.' Let us start here. If we reach this, perhaps we will climb to the next stage.

I very much appreciate this project. I was moved by the beautiful photographs that I saw, which really show sensitivity and understanding of the other. Keep it up."

2. Education Minister Piron briefed ministers on his ministry's multi-year plan 'The Other is Me'. He said that the plan will encompass the entire educational system and is designed to imbue pupils with values of tolerance, equality and recognition of others, and added that the plan will be integrated into various subjects and will be an integral part of every subject studied in the schools.

Education Minister Piron also discussed the reforms being led by the Education Ministry which are designed – inter alia – to bring about the integration of various population groups into the educational and social fabric of Israel.

3. Pursuant to Article 23 of the 1959 State Service Law (Appointments), the Cabinet approved the appointment of Hila Gerstel to be responsible for prosecutorial and legal representation oversight at the Justice Ministry.

4. The Cabinet decided to implement a national suicide-prevention plan.