(Communicated by the Cabinet Secretariat)
1. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made the following remarks:
"Today, I am submitting to the Cabinet a decision that I made along with Energy Minister Silvan Shalom, Finance Minister Yair Lapid and Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer. We held serious, in-depth, significant discussions because we are delving into the depths of the sea, and made a decision about Israel's gas economy.
Israel has been greatly blessed – with gas in the Mediterranean Sea. This gas can meet two of our basic needs: One; is to move the local economy forward by consuming cheaper energy, the same section which can use gas. The second thing is to fill the state coffers with billions of shekels as a result of gas exports and the taxation that we will impose on it. The correct balance between the two is not self-evident. We discussed it, we discussed and we decided. I think that we found the correct balance. We were not swept away on the waves of populism that are washing over the country, the world, and we did the correct thing for the State of Israel.
The important thing now is to move quickly. We certainly understand that investors can lose hope. They can think that we have succumbed to populist pressures or endless bureaucracy. We want to move quickly. I want to tell you one basic thing: Without gas exports, there will be no local gas economy. These are the basic rules. The most basic understanding on how we produce gas from the water. Without gas exports, there will be no local market. This mistake, succumbing to populism, 'Let's keep our gas at home' has been made by several countries and they keep their gas at home. It is buried under the ground or under the sea, beneath layers of populism and bureaucracy. We cannot do this. We must extract the gas. The correct balance between the local market and exports – this is what we will do today.
I think that the ability to withstand the populist wave, against people who do not understand how to run an economy, who can easily destroy economies, this ability, is within this government. We are united and we have considerable strength and determination to enact this important move.
I would like to say an additional word that must be said here. For decades, the State of Israel, the government of Israel in all its branches, unsuccessfully searched for gas. Those who succeeded were from the private sector, entrepreneurs who took risks and found it – and this must be said today. In the populist wave that is flooding the State of Israel, this also must be said, they must not be fobbed off, their contribution certainly cannot be denied, but we must also take for the state its due, and this is what we are doing.
The correct balance is the decision that we will make here today. And I think that this is correct. It ensures the needs of the citizens of the State of Israel, both by filling the state coffers with considerable funds from exports and by supplying the local market with cheap energy.
We are also making an additional decision today that has not been made over the past 65 years – extending daylight savings time. The Interior Minister has submitted an important decision that will add, in effect, an additional hour of daylight until the end of October. That is, we are bringing good news to Israeli citizens. Now we have a land flowing with milk and honey, gas and sunlight. This is good. It is a very, very welcome change.
This week we will mark the government's 100th day in office and I would like to thank my colleagues here for working together on innovative actions. This is a government of reforms, this is impressive. In addition to what we are deciding today about the gas and about extending daylight savings time, we have already enacted the Open Skies reform. We passed a reform to import vehicles and a reform at garages. We passed the budget on its first reading. We passed a law to prevent infiltrators from sending money outside the country unless they themselves are leaving the country, and this is continuing the major move of not only blocking infiltrators from Africa, but of expatriating illegal infiltrators.
We have formulated an outline on increasing equality in sharing the burden and we will pass it. We passed through the Knesset Finance Committee the major work done by the previous government but which was completed now, on reducing cartelization in the Israeli economy, and we will continue with these reforms, at the ports, in the public service, in opening markets in China and other countries, in jumping the Israeli economy forward and bringing these profits and revenues to the benefit of Israel's citizens.
There is one thing that we are committed to all the time and that we are working on all the time, even in these 100 days, and I am not going into detail on our actions – and that is to continue to maintain the security of Israel's citizens in the new and stormy Middle East, and we are doing this and we will continue to do it. This is mission #1."
2. Pursuant to Article 4b of Basic Law: The Judiciary, the Cabinet decided that Minister Gideon Saar will be a member of the Judges' Election Committee until 1 January 2014, and that Minister Gilad Erdan will be a member of the Committee effective 2 January 2014, in addition to Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, who chairs the Committee as per the aforesaid Law.
3. Pursuant to Article 6A of the 1955 Religious Court Judges Law, the Cabinet decided that Minister Erdan will serve as a member of Religious Court Judges' Election Committee until 1 January 2014, and that Minister Saar will serve on the Committee effective 2 January 2014, in addition to Justice Minister Tzipi Livni who also serves on the Committee.
4. Pursuant to Article 4A of the 1961 Cadis Law, the Cabinet decided that Minister Yaakov Peri will be a member of the Cadis Election Committee, in addition to Justice Minister Tzipi Livni who also serves on the Committee as per the aforesaid Law.
5. Pursuant to Article 11A of the 1962 Druze Religious Courts Law, the Cabinet appointed Minister Yair Shamir as a member of the appointments committee, in addition to Justice Minister Tzipi Livni who also serves on the Committee.
6. Pursuant to Article 8 of the 1980 Chief Rabbinate Law, the Cabinet appointed Minister Uri Orbach and Minister Limor Livnat to serve as members of the electoral body as per the aforesaid Law.
7. The Cabinet decided to recognize Archbishop Nourhan Manougian as Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem in accordance with the 23 January 2013 decision of the Armenian Patriarchate's St. James Brotherhood.
The Cabinet authorized Interior Minister Gideon Saar to issue the Patriarch-elect a letter of recognition on behalf of the Government according to law.
8. Pursuant to the 2009 Inclusion of Biometric Means of Identification and Biometric Identification Data in Identity Documents and Database Law, the Cabinet appointed the members of the Ministerial Committee on Biometric Applications.
9. The Cabinet approved draft legislation on the electricity economy.
10. The Cabinet approved draft legislation on the employment of cleaning and security workers by services contractors.
11. The Cabinet approved draft legislation on the extension of daylight savings time.
The draft legislation proposes that the daylight savings time begin annually at 02:00 on the Friday before the last Sunday in March and conclude annually at 02:00 on the last Sunday in October.
12. Regarding the Government's preparations for completing the handling of evacuees from Gush Katif and northern Samaria and in light of the conclusion of activity by the Tenufa Administration on 30 June 2013, the Cabinet decided that the local authorities that have absorbed the evacuees will be responsible for coordinating their handling.
13. The Cabinet appointed a ministerial committee to be responsible for assistance to evacuees (see #12 above) and arranging for alternative communities.
14. Jewish People Policy Planning Institute leaders Dennis Ross, Stuart Eizenstat, Avinoam Bar-Yosef and Einat Wilf briefed ministers on the JPPPI's 2013-2014 Annual Assessment and referred to – inter alia – the challenges facing the Jewish People in light of the changes in our region and in the international arena.
The speakers also spoke about the need to deal with demographic changes in the US in the wake of which there is growing influence by new population components and elites that have no tradition of support for Israel. They also discussed changes in US and European Jewish communities, the weakening of their relationship to the State of Israel and the need to strengthen it.
The speakers addressed the need to devote resources and develop tools to formulate Israeli policy in light of the changes in our region and in the international arena especially in light of the need to boost efforts to maintain links with Jews around the world.
Special emphasis was placed on the need to develop tools to boost the effort to preserve Israel's status around the world, including in the Jewish communities, and struggle against the de-legitimization and boycott of Israel.
Prime Minister Netanyahu summarized the discussion and said:
"De-legitimization is a very serious phenomenon. It is a network of incitement against Israel and the Jewish People in order to undermine the existence of Israel as the Jewish national state and its right to defend itself by itself against its enemies. To our regret, this is a wave that has grown in recent years.
For a long time, many efforts have been made, both by the Government of Israel and organizations in Israel and around the world to deal with this phenomenon.
However, in order to optimize efforts, coordination between the various active bodies must be improved via a comprehensive action plan.
I would like to thank the JPPPI and its leaders, Stuart Eizenstat, Dennis Ross and Avinoam Bar Yosef for their ramified and welcome contribution on this matter. In light of the data they presented:
I have assigned to the Strategic Affairs Ministry the overall responsibility for the struggle against de-legitimization, including coordinating the efforts with organizations in Israel and around the world in dealing with the phenomenon directed against Israel and the Jewish People.
In the framework of its responsibilities, the Strategic Affairs Ministry will coordinate a professional staff on the struggle against de-legitimization. We will see to it that the Ministry will have at its disposal the authority and the tools necessary to carry out this important mission.
The Strategic Affairs Ministry will be responsible for developing a strategy and ways to combat de-legitimization and will work to implement them."