​(Communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, this morning (Sunday, 22 October 2017), at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting, made the following remarks:
 
"I have decided to appoint Yaron Blum as coordinator for POWs and MIAs; he will coordinate our efforts to bring the boys back home. He views this as a national mission. Personally, he was a member of the small team that dealt with the issue of Gilad Shalit and I think that he is the appropriate person for this important mission.
 
Before the appointment, I called the families, each one of them, and I told them that I know, I remember them as parents and also as brothers, and I remember the boys. We understand our moral and humanitarian debt to do everything possible to bring them back. I have no doubt that Yaron will contribute to the effort and make a very important contribution to this sacred mission.
 
Today, the Cabinet will approve a plan to expedite linking industrial plants to the national gas network. Of course, this will also make the industries more efficient and will reduce air pollution. Any factory that agrees to be connected to the network already knows when this will occur. I think that this is the start of a move to make Israeli industry significantly more efficient. This will have major implications.
 
Today we are getting started on the Sha'ar Hagay site, which will commemorate the heritage of those who broke through to Jerusalem, and those who escorted the convoys, in the War of Independence. The site will feature educational and tourist activities to increase awareness of the site and its heritage. A joint steering committee will be established to be chaired by the Cabinet Secretary. It will determine the plans and see to their implementation. This is important.
 
The academic year opens today. I wish success to the hundreds of thousands of students and lecturers. We are investing many billions of shekels in them out of recognition that higher education is a cornerstone in the life of the State of Israel.
 
I remind you - it was only a few years ago - about the lost decade of higher education in Israel. Simply put, the institutions had started to fray, I would say. They had difficulties not only with the physical base, but with basic budgets that were designed to maintain and build higher education in Israel and cause it to flourish, but which atrophied. And so we made a major change of direction, already in previous governments, but we are continuing with this momentum, based on the understanding that this is a primary tool in advancing the State of Israel and Israeli society."