Jerusalem, 29 December 2002
Cabinet Communique
(Communicated by the Cabinet Secretariat)
At the weekly Cabinet meeting today (Sunday), December 29, 2002:
1. Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz briefed ministers on current security
matters and the terrorist attacks which have occurred in recent days,
including last Friday's deadly shooting attack at Otniel in which
four hesder yeshiva students were murdered. The Defense Minister said
that counter-terrorist actions are being carried out on a continuous
basis both inside Israel and in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip.
The Defense Minister reported that the IDF is continuing to use heavy
pressure in the field in order to prevent and foil terrorist actions
and added that this pressure has led to impressive achievements. The
Defense Minister discussed the arrests that were carried out last
week among suspected terrorists and referred to several of the most
prominent. The Defense Minister added that the US is showing
determination and is preparing the military option against Iraq.
Foreign Minister Benjamin Netanyahu briefed ministers on his trip to
Europe and his meetings with Italian, French, British and Russian
leaders.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon made it clear that he and Defense
Minister Mofaz have agreed to step up the war on terror and have
concurred that all necessary steps would be taken to this effect.
2. The Cabinet approved a treaty with Bulgaria to prevent double
taxation and income tax evasion.
3. The Cabinet decided to continue the plan for encouraging aliyah
from Argentina, Uruguay, France and South Africa.
Prime Minister Sharon said that he views aliyah as Israel's most
important and central goal, and noted that he made it clear when the
government was established that it was necessary to bring an
additional 1 million Jews to Israel within 10-13 years. The Prime
Minister noted that an important step had recently been taken in
extending the absorption basket to all immigrants regardless of where
they had emigrated from. The Prime Minister said that in glancing
towards the future, all Jews would be able to live as Jews only in
the Land of Israel and that, therefore, all efforts would have to be
directed accordingly. The Prime Minister said that aliyah was
critical to the existence of the Jewish people, adding that it was a
major contributor to the State of Israel's security, economy and
political standing. The Prime Minister remarked that it was
everyone's duty to further the absorption of immigrants in the
country since this was a supreme national goal.
4. Prime Minister Sharon informed ministers that 12,000 illegal
foreign workers - 60% of whom left voluntarily - had been
successfully deported over the last three months.