Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman apologized on Tuesday evening after making a controversial statement during a conversation with Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked at Monday’s cabinet meeting.
Minister Shaked said that Israeli mayors were interested in receiving the refugees from Ukraine and Liberman then quipped, "Some actually want the Ukrainian women."
In an interview with Channel 12 News on Tuesday, Liberman said, "It was an unsuccessful joke. I immediately asked to delete it from the protocol, sometimes when there is tension and anger one tells a joke. This time it did not turn out well and I apologize."
Liberman also said that the controversies within the coalition over the agricultural reform do not worry him in the context of the coalition staying together.
"Just as we survived the Citizenship Law, we will get through this as well, the coalition understands that there are no other alternatives," he stated.
The Minister of Finance also referenced data from the Central Bureau of Statistics, according to which housing prices have risen by about 13 percent in the past year.
"This is very disturbing, there is a global tsunami in the field of economics, not only in battles on the ground, we see volatility in the prices of coal and wheat as well. And also in construction inputs - as soon as the prices of iron rise all over the world, we feel the effects here."