(Communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser)
 
At the weekly Cabinet meeting today (Sunday, 25 January 2015):
 
1. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made the following remarks:
 
"In the coming weeks, the major powers are liable to reach a framework agreement with Iran, an agreement that is liable to leave Iran as a nuclear threshold state, which would endanger – first and foremost – the existence of the State of Israel. This is the same Iran that has taken over Lebanon and Syria and is now taking over Yemen and Iraq. This is the same Iran that is preparing an active front against us both on the Golan Heights and in southern Lebanon. This same Iran cannot advance toward nuclear weapons.
 
As Prime Minister of Israel, I am obligated to make every effort in order to prevent Iran from achieving nuclear weapons that would be aimed at the State of Israel. This effort is worldwide and I will go anywhere I am invited in order to enunciate the State of Israel's position and in order to defend its future and its existence.
 
I would like to express my condolences to the Japanese Prime Minister and people following reports of the brutal murder of a Japanese citizen by Islamic State. Last week, during Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to Israel, I told him that the struggle against extremist Islamic terrorism is a joint struggle and only if we are united will we be able to emerge victorious. Israel stands alongside Japan and the Japanese people in this difficult hour.
 
This week we will mark around the worldInternational Holocaust Remembrance Day and Struggle against Anti-Semitism Day. Last year we witnessed an increase in anti-Semitic incidents and a wave of anti-Semitism  that is flooding parts of the world, especially Europe. Against these phenomena the governments of the world need to act with greater vigor. History has already shown us that violence that begins against the Jews does not stop with the Jews. It is like a brushfire that spreads very rapidly to all societies and all citizens.
 
At the same time, we must ease the obstacles that impede the immigration of Jews to the Land of Israel. Israel is the national home of every Jew and we will act to bring immigrants to the State of Israel."
 
2. The Cabinet decided to extend the term in office of Naomi Ben-Ami, the head of the Liaison Bureau (Nativ) in the Prime Minister’s Office, until 1 August 2015.
 
3. The Cabinet marked International Holocaust Remembrance Day and Struggle Against Anti-Semitism Day and was briefed by Jerusalem and Diaspora Affairs Minister Naftali Bennett, Foreign Ministry representative Yuval Rotem, Jewish Agency for Israel Chairman Natan Sharansky, World Zionist Organization Chairman Avraham Duvdevani, Yad Vashem Directorate Chairman Avner Shalev and Tel Aviv University Kantor Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry Director Prof. Dina Porat.
 
The speakers discussed – inter alia – the increase in Islamic anti-Semitism, the increase in violent incidents against Jews and the increase in perceived threats among world Jewish communities, as well as the actions being taken by their respective institutions to instill awareness of the Holocaust (including the heroism) in Israel and around the world in the fields of information, education and awareness among government officials in countries marked by anti-Semitism. The speakers also discussed the need to strengthen links with, and support among, Jewish communities, and to boost personal security.  They also referred to preparations to accommodate increased immigration to Israel.
 
Prime Minister Netanyahu summarized the discussion: “In light of the waves of anti-Semitism flooding the countries in which Jews live around the world, we must prepare to absorb large-scale immigration to Israel. To this end we are working to remove the impediments to [recognizing] diplomas and professional degrees in Israel. At the same time we will prepare an emergency plan to cancel bureaucracy so as to enable massive construction to absorb the immigrants, just as we did previously to absorb the major immigration from the [former] Soviet Union. This will greatly help in resolving the housing problem in Israel.”
 
(Clickhere for The Coordination Forum for Countering Anti-Semitism 2014 report.)
 
4. The Cabinet discussed the creation of a human capital base for the public service sector.