PM Bennett appears before the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee,briefs his first year of government

(Fast Mail) - The Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in a remark to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee today said that the first year of his  government was the quietest that residents of the south – Sderot, Ashkelon and the area adjacent to the Gaza Strip – have experienced since the disengagement. This is a major achievement by our government.

This is not a coincidence but is the result of a clear and determined policy – decisiveness for every balloon and a steadfast stance in the face of blackmail and violence. We also saw this during the flag parade when we did not capitulate to Hamas's threats. In the face of terrorist threats, we held the parade despite Hamas's attempts to threaten us and get the better of Israel once again.

 He said,”This year we took the fight to our enemies. We do not allow them to get stronger and are taking action. We are always ready, of course, and the security establishment is prepared for various scenarios”.

On the Iranian front,he said the past year saw a turning point in the Israeli strategy vis-à-vis Iran. We see the brave Iranian people going out into the streets in Iran and demonstrating against the repression and tyranny of the regime, against the hunger and against the corruption that is afflicting them.

In the past year, the State of Israel has taken action against the head of the terrorist octopus and not just against the arms as was done in previous decades,he said.

On the domestic security front, he said that the events of Operation Guardians of the Walls and the disturbances that we saw, were threats that led to an understanding of the threat from within. But the past year, I can say, was a year in which the Government of Israel took action against crime and violent nationalism in the Arab sector, and this was after a decade of neglect.

“We entered with the full force of the Israel Police. Yes, I made the decision to bring in the Israeli Security Agency (ISA) into the domestic security situation as well, to the worlds of terrorism, worlds that could harm the national security of the State of Israel”,he said.

 “Those who have gained the most from all of these moves are – first and foremost – the Arab sector. The Arab sector has suffered terribly and it is telling us in simple Hebrew: 'With all of the budgets that you want to give to education, the economy and unemployment, it does not help us if they are shooting at our children in the streets. Come in and deal with it”,he said.

So this year the government came in and dealt with it, with outstanding results. Murders, shootings and crime in the Arab sector declined considerably in one year.

 And finally,he said that  for as long as I can remember, we have criticized Israeli public diplomacy. For many years, the public diplomacy staff was directed to other needs. We have established the Public Diplomacy Directorate. It has been doing outstanding work and coordinating between the various government ministries with a lot of energy. In all recent events, as difficult as they were, we were there to deal with them, to provide facts in rebuttal quickly, and deal with dozens of incidents that without quick public diplomacy efforts we might have paid a heavy price for.