I remember that there was criticism of the seemingly excessive expenditures
that we were investing in defense and I do not want to think what would have
happened to the Israeli economy, to the State of Israel, if we hadn't made
these investments
Excerpt from PM Netanyahu's Remarks at the 4th International Cybersecurity
Conference
(Communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser)

Following is an excerpt from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's remarks
this evening (Sunday, 14 September 2014), at Tel Aviv University, at the 4th
International Cybersecurity Conference:

"Thanks to the responsibility with which we have led the Israeli economy in
recent years Israel has not reached the places that many Western economies –
which used to be stronger than ours – have reached, and we must continue
this responsible policy.

The State of Israel needs a responsible budget that answers the security
threats directed at us and which will not adversely affect the Israeli
economy. We need funds for Iron Dome in order to deal with ISIS in the east,
Hezbollah and Al Qaida in the north and Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the
south. The billions that we decided to invest in the economy, or to be more
precise, in defense in recent years, saved the Israeli economy. The billions
that we invested in thousands of Iron Dome interceptors enabled the Israeli
economy to continue to function during the recent campaign and prevented the
flight of investments from Israel. The billions that we invested in the
fence in the south completely blocked illegal migration into the State of
Israel as well as the jihadists from Sinai, which was a clear threat to the
economy, society and state.

I remember that there was criticism of the seemingly excessive expenditures
that we were investing in defense and I do not want to think what would have
happened to the Israeli economy, to the State of Israel, if we hadn't made
these investments. Now, in the face of new and growing threats in our
region, we need to significantly increase the defense budget, with
additional billions, and this is important, many billions.

I think that it is within our power to meet all of these challenges as long
as we do so responsibly and do not lead Israel into an out-of-control
deficit, with an out-of-control international overdraft.

Our challenges are many. They include the highest threat, the nuclearization
of Iran or its ability to produce nuclear weapons in a short time, terrorist
threats and an additional threat – the threat of delegitimization. And this
threat will, unfortunately, not only feed off a global campaign but from
elements within our midst.

I would like to make it clear that refusal of any kind deserves the fullest
condemnation. The political use that was recently made, including the
voicing of baseless accusations, is unacceptable. The IDF, in all of its
units, is the most moral army in the world. It carries out the missions that
we assign to it in the best way possible in order to guard the security of
the State of Israel.

I would like to say, in this forum that, based on my many years of
familiarity with Unit 8200, I know that the baseless accusations that have
been made recently will not harm its very important work on behalf of the
security of the State of Israel and I say to them – carry on."