(Communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser)
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, this morning (Tuesday, 3 August 2021), visited IDF Northern Command headquarters together with IDF Chief-of-Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi. GOC Northern Command Maj.-Gen. Amir Baram and GOC Operations Maj.-Gen. Oded Basiuk briefed the Prime Minister on the situation in the north, including IDF preparedness in the sector and the situations in Lebanon and Syria.
Following are Prime Minister Bennett's remarks:
"Immediately after the Iranian attack on the ship, we shared our intelligence with our friends in the US, the UK and elsewhere. While nobody has any doubt who is behind the incident, we provided hard evidence just to be sure.
"At the same time, unfortunately, an EU representative intends to attend the swearing-in ceremony of the new Iranian president, Raisi. Raisi is the most extreme Iranian president of them all, and the competition is tough. From here, I call on the EU: One cannot talk about human rights and simultaneously honor a murderer, a hangman, who has eliminated hundreds of opponents of the regime."
Regarding the ship and the Iranian issue in general: "We are working on enlisting the world but at the same time, we also know how to act alone.
"Iran already knows the price that we exact when someone threatens our security. The Iranians need to understand that it is impossible to sit peacefully in Tehran and from there ignite the entire Middle East. That is over.
"The significant increase in the defense budget, in the IDF budget, which we passed just this week, reflects this. Against Iran, speeches are not enough – we need a strong IDF and for that we need to invest considerable resources, which we are doing."