Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Finance Minister Yair Lapid and Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz officially announced at a press conference Wednesday that Israel will open two new ports, to be run by private companies.
Netanyahu praised the decision, which he said will lead to a dramatic improvement to Israel’s export capabilities.
Turning to the current port unions, Netanyahu said, “The monopoly is over.” Two thousand men will no longer be able to shut down the entire country, he said.
Israel has five ways to boost economic growth, he continued. The first is its newly discovered natural gas resources.
“The second is ‘China,’ that is, increased export to new markets. The third is bringing new sectors of society into the workforce – hareidi-religious Jews and Arabs, especially hareidi men and Arab women,” he said. The fourth is technology, he added.
“The fifth, but the first in importance, is reforms, reforms, and more reforms, to cut bureaucracy and increase competition,” he declared. “To bring down prices and reduce the cost of living in Israel.”
Lapid spoke at the press conference as well. “The thing that most stands out about this government is that we are here to work,” he said.
“We’re bringing the Israeli public the ports reform that the state has been waiting for for 65 years,” he said. “This reform will create hundreds if not thousands of new workplaces outside of central Israel, and that’s something that will change lives.”
“We came to work, and we’re working,” he concluded.