At the start of his cabinet meeting on Sunday morning, Prime Minister Yair Lapid urged President Biden, who is getting ready to land in Israel this week: “Yesterday, it was revealed that Iran is enriching uranium in advanced centrifuges in complete contravention of the agreements it has signed. The international response needs to be decisive: to return to the UN Security Council and activate the sanctions mechanism at full force. Israel, for its part, reserves for itself full freedom of action, diplomatic and operational, in the fight against the Iranian nuclear program.”
Lapid reiterated: “This is an opportunity to again thank the United States for not lifting the sanctions on the Iranian IRGC. Iran is behind Hezbollah and supports Hamas, and Iranian terror cells recently tried to murder Israeli tourists in Istanbul.”
He then warned: “Israel will not stand idly by while Iran tries to attack us. Our security services know how to reach anyone, anywhere – and they will do just that. We will discuss with the President and his team expanding security cooperation against all threats.”
According to Kan 11 News, about half of the ministers were absent or late for Lapid’s cabinet meeting, revealing that they had other priorities than serving as extras in the coming Yesh Atid election videos.
כמחצית משרי הממשלה נעדרו או איחרו | תיעוד מישיבת הממשלה השנייה של לפיד@shemeshmicha pic.twitter.com/WqHfv2yYAM
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) July 10, 2022
The PM then addressed another vital concern on the minds of Israeli voters: violence and murder in the streets. He announced that his government, led by Public Security Minister Omer Barlev and Social Equality Minister Meirav Cohen, will submit a decision on the continuation of the program to deal with violence in mixed cities.
“This government is determined to bring law and order to the streets of Israel,” Lapid announced. “This plan is only the beginning. This is one of the main missions that we have set for ourselves: strong police and cooperation with the Shin Bet and local municipalities to ensure that every Israeli citizen knows someone is safeguarding their personal security.”
“Regarding personal security, a strong hand is necessary,” Lapid revealed, reassuring his ministers who were on hand that “personal security is at the top of our agenda. We have added hundreds of positions to the police. We are constantly fighting the phenomenon of violence in the Arab sector and are already seeing results.”
“We will continue to do whatever is necessary,” the PM promised. “If legislation must be changed, if punishments must be stiffened – we will do so as well. As soon as we are able to pass a budget, we will make certain that there will be significant increases for strengthening the police and raising police salaries.”
In other words – after the election. Good to know. But the PM still insisted that “all the citizens of Israel need to know that the streets are safe when they leave their homes. We will make sure that this happens.”
We’ll wait and see.
