Cabinet Communique
(Communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser)
At the weekly Cabinet meeting today (Sunday, 24 July 2016):
1. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made the following remarks:
"Today, the Cabinet will approve the law to increase and strengthen
enforcement in the field of planning and construction. Our government is
investing considerable resources in developing the Arab sector – economic
development, education, transportation, housing solutions and other issues.
Alongside all of these, we are working to create a reality of one state with
one law; law and order for everyone, without exception. This is desirable
and the time has come for it to be so in the State of Israel.
This evening I will meet with the President of Cyprus, my friend Nicos
Anastasiades. He is coming to Jerusalem. Of course, many things have taken
place in the region and I ascribe great importance to our relations,
especially at this time. Naturally, we will discuss various developments in
the region as well as the question of the gas outline and the supply of gas,
that interest our countries and others.
Recently, I have heard much verbiage about my attempts, as it were, to take
control of the communications market. The opposite is true. Let us start
with public broadcasting. If I wanted to darken the screen for public
broadcasting, I would allow the new corporation to go on the air when it is
unready. The corporation would fail and Channel 1 would go dark or be
grounded; therefore, an extension is needed to allow the new corporation to
get properly organized and go on the air when it is ready. During the
extension, the current public broadcasting, Channel #1, will continue to
broadcast and their screen will not go dark.
But the main part of the reform I am bringing is not there. The main part of
the reform is commercial television channels. The time has come for there to
be more television and news channels that will be able to compete with the
existing channels. Israel has cartelization of television broadcasts that is
almost unprecedented in the free world. I checked countries that are our
size and smaller. Denmark has six television channels. Belgium has five and
Finland eight. The Israeli public is crying out, it is crying out and it is
entitled to receive freedom of choice vis-Ã -vis television as well, and I am
working to this end.
Just like when there were only two cellphone companies, two bus companies,
two airlines, and today there are more because we opened the markets to
competition – thus it will be in the communications market. Any investor –
from the right or left, above or below, from the side, from the center –
will be able to invest in these channels. It is the Israeli public that will
choose what to watch and nobody will choose for it. The reason that I am
holding the Communications portfolio is in order to open this market to
competition like I opened many other markets in the Israeli economy to
competition.
I would like to clarify something else: I will be neither bought nor
deterred, not with criticism, not with mudslinging and not with fawning air
time which, as you know, I receive endlessly. I understand one thing – the
greater the opposition to opening the communications market, the more I
understand that I am doing the right thing."
2. Pursuant to Article 12 of the 1959 State Service Law (Appointments), the
Cabinet decided to appoint Alexander Kushner as Director General of Aliyah
and Immigrant Absorption Ministry.
3. The Cabinet discussed and approved amendments to the 2016 Value Added Tax
Law.
4. The Cabinet discussed and approved amendments to the 2016 Planning and
Construction Law (Enforcement).
5. The Cabinet discussed and approved amendments to legislation regarding
the reduction of late payment fees that have accrued to criminal and
administrative fines.
6. The Cabinet discussed and approved amendments to the 2016 Core Curriculum
Law.
7. Interior Minister Aryeh Deri continued his review from last week's
meeting regarding dealing with the phenomenon of illegal migration into
Israel.
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