Jerusalem, 17 December 2000
Decisions Made at Today's Cabinet Meeting
(Communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser)
At the weekly Cabinet meeting this morning (Sunday), 17.12.2000,
Prime Minister Ehud Barak announced the following decisions:
1) To either reduce interest rates on mortgages or significantly
increase mortgage subsidies.
2) To allow the entry of foreign workers for the construction and
agriculture sectors. The number of workers and the duration of their
work will be set in consultation with the Labor and Social Welfare
Minister, the Construction and Housing Minister, and the Finance
Minister.
3) In light of the security situation, the Prime Minister approved a
plan for bullet-proofing buses and transport vans for schoolchildren
throughout Judea, Samaria and Gaza in order to assist residents in
maintaining normal daily life and security. This expenditure is in
addition to the NIS 75 million in municipal and security assistance
for Judea, Samaria and Gaza that has already been approved.
4) The Prime Minister praised both the stamina of the residents of
Gilo and the dedicated work of the Jerusalem municipality and the IDF
Home Front Command. The Prime Minister has sought to hasten the
implementation of the government's decisions from last week regarding
bullet-proofing in Gilo.
5) Regarding the plan for the Israeli Arab sector, the Prime Minister
said that this was a good and important plan for promoting
development in the Arab sector as the Government has promised. The
Prime Minister has requested that the implementation of the plan not
be delayed.