Incoming Transportation Minister Betzalel Smotrich said at the ministerial exchange ceremony: "I enter with great excitement and to a considerable degree of fear, for to fill the very large shoes of Minister Katz, it's hard to find a parallel. This is a politician who, in contrast to classic political interest, fell in love with the position and stayed there for 10 years.
"I've been exposed to the tremendous scope of the Transport Ministry. I want to expand the borders of Israel beyond the State of Tel Aviv and bring half-a-million Jews to the Negev, the Galilee, and Judea and Samaria, to bring there roads and trains. There is no other way. This is a first-rate Zionist mission," Smotrich added.