מפגינים שרפו תמונה אריה דרעיעוטף תחנה מרכזית

Interior Minister and Shas chairman Aryeh Deri on Monday discussed the burning of his picture during a demonstration by southern Tel Aviv residents against government policy on illegal infiltrators.

At a Shas movement toast, Deri said, "This is a cheap provocation. I was not hurt by it. My heart is with residents of southern Tel Aviv. I understand their distress, I have been there several times, and anyone who does not see what is being done there does not understand. A lot of our supporters and voters are there.”

"We do not come there as tourists, to make a round and go. The people closest to us are there. As a child I remember how southern Tel Aviv looked before and how it looks today. As if you have come to another country. "

He said that since he began to serve as interior minister, not a single infiltrator entered Israel. "On the contrary, they left in very large quantities. Even this year, when we have a serious problem, thousands have left. There is no move I could have done, legally or otherwise, that I did not do. Whether with the Deposit Law or ... Unfortunately, there are things that are not up to us. We are not the ones who caused the third countries to retract and take down the outline we were leading.

"At the same time, we continue to provide benefit for the residents, including large budgets, which we passed by a government decision, very large budgets for the benefit of southern Tel Aviv, to begin, with daily activities, to give to the residents suffering there. Our representatives in the municipality are doing quiet and daily activities, not with provocations or headlines, physical and spiritual actions wherever possible.”

"We are in the middle of a big process. I hope it will succeed and we will be able to open the ideal path without the need for intermediate stations," Deri said, without elaborating on the process to which he was referring.