Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in opening remarks to Thursday night’s security cabinet meeting that the internal debate in Israel “will not prevent us from acting against our enemies.
“Recently, I have made it clear that our enemies should not misjudge us: The internal debate in Israel will not prevent us from taking action against them wherever and whenever necessary. All of us, without exception, are united on this,” Netanyahu said.
“We have no intention of changing the status quo on the Temple Mount. We are calling for calming the situation and we will take strong action against extremists who use violence there.
“Regarding the aggression against us on other fronts, we will strike our enemies and they will pay the price for any act of aggression.
“Our enemies will discover, again, that at moments of truth, the citizens of Israel stand united and unified, and back the actions of the IDF and the other security services to defend our country and our people.”
The cabinet meeting included Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, Justice Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Yariv Levin, Agriculture Minister and former Shin Bet director Avi Dichter, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, Energy Minister Israel Katz, Transportation Minister Miri Regev and the heads of all agencies in the security and defense establishment.
Prior to the meeting, Netanyahu convened a special situation assessment with the head of Israel’s National Security Council Tzachi Hanegbi, along with Cohen, Dermer, Ben Gvir, the prime minister’s military secretary, IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi and senior defense officials.
Earlier, Gallant convened a security assessment together with Halevi, Mossad chief David Barnea and Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar.
