Transportation Minister Miri Regev was criticized on Tuesday over statements she made during an interview with Radio Kol Chai about the government's treatment of citizens who have been forced to evacuate their homes in the north and south.
"This government has done amazing things this year. Amazing things," claimed Regev and added, "So many people are in hotels, everything is financed by the government. The reconstruction of the north, the reconstruction of the south. We brought budgets for a train route from Kiryat Shmona to Eilat, now we are opening educational systems and building schools."
"We are in a difficult reality. And we continue to function in this reality and continue to do good things for the sake of Israeli society," she stated.
"You shouldn't throw the baby out with the bathwater. It's true, there are gaps, things need to be done better, but things are being done and we need to say thank you to God," stressed Regev.
To a question about the situation on the northern border, she replied, "There will either be a settlement or war in Lebanon. There is no way that the residents will return to the same reality of October 7. We will protect our residents, we are committed to that, and Hezbollah will pay for it. The issue of the north is close to our hearts. It is not for nothing that we are not not returning the residents to their homes. I meet them at the hotels and I know it's difficult."
On the possibility of Ministers Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot resigning from the government, Regev said, "I very much hope that they will not do that. This is not the time to leave. They joined the government and said that they will not leave until the end of the war. That should not play politics now. They know that we make decisions with full responsibility for the security of the country's citizens and the protection of our home, this is not the time for petty politics."
The Yesh Atid party said in response to Regev’s comments, "The bridge over Highway 1 is more connected than Miri Regev." MK Meirav Ben-Ari wrote, "Rotten government. I have no other word."
MK Yulia Malinovsky (Yisrael Beytenu) attacked Regev and said, "Miri probably lives in a different reality, because had she been living with us on Earth, the quote would go like this: 'This government has done crazy damage this year, crazy damage! So many residents were evacuated from their homes in the north to hotels, the north and the south are destroyed, desolate and burning. And there are traffic jams from Eilat to Kiryat Shmona. True, it will be difficult to fix, but we have to pray to God that this government disappears.'"