Ministers stood and observed a minute of silence at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting (Sunday, 28 October 2018)  in memory of those who were murdered in Pittsburgh yesterday.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting, made the following remarks:

"The entire people of Israel grieve with the families of the people who were murdered in the shocking massacre at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh. On behalf of myself, the Government of Israel and the people of Israel, from the depth of our hearts, I send our condolences to the families who lost their loved ones. We all pray for the swift recovery of the wounded.

It is very difficult to exaggerate the horror of the murder of Jews who had gathered in a synagogue on Shabbat and were murdered just because they were Jews. Israel stands at the forefront with the Jewish community of Pittsburgh, with all Jewish communities in the US and with the American people. We stand together, at the forefront, against anti-Semitism and displays of such barbarity.

I call upon the whole world to unite in the fight against anti-Semitism everywhere. Today, regretfully, we refer to the United States, where the largest anti-Semitic crime in its history took place, but we also mean, of course, Western Europe, where there is a tough struggle against the manifestations of a new anti-Semitism. Of course there is also the old and familiar anti-Semitism, and that of radical Islam. On all these fronts we must stand up and fight back against this brutal fanaticism. It starts with the Jews, but never ends with the Jews.

On Friday, my wife and I returned from a historic diplomatic visit to Oman. I met with the leader of Oman; Sultan Qaboos bin Said, a very experienced and impressive man. This is Israel's first official visit to Oman in 22 years. This visit comes against the background of diplomatic efforts that I have been promoting in recent years vis-a-vis the Arab countries. In our long meeting we discussed in detail the challenges facing the Middle East. These were important talks - both for the State of Israel and very important talks for Israel's security. There will be more.

We are after a weekend of air strikes in Gaza. Yesterday we heard about an 'ultimatum' from Hamas to Israel. At no stage will Israel accept any ultimatum from Hamas. Israel will continue to act in accordance with Israeli interests and for Israel's security alone. "