(Communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser)
At the weekly Cabinet meeting today (Sunday, 7 June 2015):
1. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made the following remarks:
"Israel holds Hamas responsible for all firing from the Gaza Strip at our territory. I have not heard anyone in the international community condemn this firing; neither has UN said a word. It will be interesting if this silence continues when we use our full strength to uphold our right to defend ourselves. Let it be clear: The spreading hypocrisy in the world will not tie our hands and prevent us from protecting Israel's citizens. Thus we have acted; thus we will act.
An additional action that we are in the midst of is establishing an offensive, first of all offensive, but also defensive, network in the face of attempts to boycott the State of Israel and harm the IDF's right to defend the citizens of the country. As far as those pushing the boycotts are concerned, the settlements in Judea and Samaria are not the focus of the conflict, but our settling in Tel Aviv-Jaffa, Be'er Sheva, Haifa and – of course – Jerusalem.
While we call for a resumption of the diplomatic negotiations, the Palestinians are taking steps against us at the UN and at the international court in The Hague. They shun negotiations and at the same time are also pushing international sanctions and UN Security Council decisions against us because there are no negotiations. They ran from Barak, Sharon and Olmert, they ran from them all, and then they accuse us. Here as well their cynicism knows no bounds, and I regret that there are those who fall into this trap of organized hypocrisy.
Against attempts to attack Israel with lies, false accusations and boycotts, we must line up – Right and Left – to rebuff the pressure, expose the lies and attack those who attack us. We will gather forces in Israel and around the world to shatter the lies of our enemies, and we will fight for Israel's right to live in peace and security, to live at all."
2. Pursuant to Article 12 of the 1959 State Service Law, and with the consent of Prime Minister Netanyahu, the Cabinet approved the following appointments:
* Shlomo Ben-Eliyahu as Director General of the Agriculture and Rural Development Ministry;
* Shlomo Filber as Director General of the Communications Ministry; and
* Moshe Bar Siman Tov as Director General of the Health Ministry.
3. The Cabinet appointed the members of the Ministerial Committee on Foreign Service appointments.
4. The Cabinet appointed the members of the ministerial committee on the authority responsible for oversight of classified archival materials.
6. National Security Adviser and National Security Council Chairman Yossi Cohen briefed ministers on the national security situation. He noted that there is a high risk that the bad agreement being formulated between the major powers and Iran will be signed soon. The agreement being formulated gives Iran an international license to preserve its nuclear capability and lifts sanctions without imposing the condition that the tens of billions of dollars that will be released not be used for Iranian terrorism, regional occupation or wars. He added that the vast sums that will be channeled to the Iranian economy will serve Iran's developing weapons industry and its terrorist arms around the world, including support for the Assad regime and terrorist attacks perpetrated at Iranian behest via proxies such as Hezbollah. He noted that the Israeli security establishment holds to a uniform view regarding the danger that this deal poses to Israel's security. He discussed Iran's efforts to establish an additional front on the Golan Heights and Hamas's efforts to rebuild its capabilities in Gaza. He concluded by noting that the Palestinian Authority is waging a diplomatic and legal campaign against Israel in international institutions including the international court at The Hague.