Tuesday morning, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu addressed Israel’s economic situation against the backdrop of the turmoil in the Middle East, laid out reforms he seeks to advance in the field of communications, and described his policy for Judea and Samaria.
“At this time we are investing a huge amount, doing this despite the great turmoil which has seized the Middle East,” he said at Makor Rishon newspaper’s conference. “Is it a coincidence that countries are collapsing around us while Israel is thriving? It’s not a coincidence we have upgraded our abilities. Submarines, tanks, planes, underground military ability - from low to high.”
“We have to ensure that our economy is open and dynamic and rewards initiative - without this there cannot be economic initiative,” he emphasized.
“We developed the economy, lowered unemployment to historic levels, we are creating a bilateral channel between world markets. Step by step we are taking the money from that flourishing economy and investing it in infrastructure in Israel that you don’t see in Europe.”
“We have many more economic challenges,” he asserted. “We will continue to increase competition in the market, increase available housing. We understand that we are a growing country and that’s what creates the challenge, but I believe that a rise in supply will lower housing prices. We also need to decrease regulation.”
On relations with other countries, the Prime Minister said: “We have a good relationship with Russia, China, Japan, and India. Tonight, the Prime Minister of India will arrive for a historic visit, the first visit of [an Indian Prime Minister] since the founding of the State [of Israel]. Together, we will bring Israel-India cooperation to new heights.”
On the issue of Israeli media, Netanyahu said, “It’s true that in a democracy it is acceptable to criticize the government, there’s no problem with that. But when I turn on the news in the morning, almost everything is presented in black colors. The ‘industry of depression’ works non-stop.”
“A large part of the public which believes in a nationalist policy does not find expression [in the media]. We will solve this only if we open broadcast communications to competition. This is a nationalist goal.”
The Prime Minister emphasized in his speech: “There is no need to bolster me from the right. I am steadfast for all of you, for the entire State of Israel, I can say that what we did in the last decade for the State of Israel and the land of Israel are things which I believe that nobody else would have done - and certainly not done better.”