Binyamin Netanyahu
Binyamin NetanyahuYonatan Sindel/Flash 90

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu apologized this morning, Sunday, at the opening of the cabinet meeting for the heated argument last week between Likud MKs and bereaved parents who lost children during Operation Protective Edge.

“I want to say several words to bereaved families. The Nation of Israel is completely united behind you. You, who lost the most valuable thing of all for the security of the State of Israel. We know that the establishment of Israel comes with a heavy price. As the head of a family and as the son in a bereaved family, I heard the things that were said last week in the Knesset in the heat of the moment. I am sorry that things were said - an immediate apology was needed, and it is good that this was the case, “ he said.

Netanyahu also addressed Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day , which starts tonight. “I will speak this evening on the great significance of the passage from Holocaust to rebirth - from a nation blowing in the wind without anchor to a sovereign nation with one of the strongest defensive forces in the world."

“But this morning I would like to relate to one point. In recent years, my governments have substantially increased budgets for the Holocaust survivors living among us. However, we must ensure that these budgets indeed reach the survivors.

“On this issue I know that corrections and improvements can be made; therefore, I have decided to personally head a ministerial team that will include the ministers of Finance, Health, Social Welfare and Social Services, Construction and Housing, and Justice. We will work together and quickly to ensure the quality of life and a dignified existence for the Holocaust survivors in their remaining years. We have no greater obligation than this one.”