At 1 am last night, the Knesset plenum passed gave second and third readings to a bill to dissolve itself. The vote was 100 in favor and none against. The election campaign will begin today.
The 18th Knesset's winter session began yesterday afternoon, and immediately came the announcement that elections will be held on January 22, 2013. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu went to the dais to speak, and before he could utter a word, he was heckled by MK Dov Khenin (Hadash). "This doesn’t happen at the UN, it doesn’t happen in Congress, and it should not happen here either, but do not intend to replace this house with any other," said Netanyahu in response to the heckling. He was interrupted by other MKs, who said, "But we will replace you."
Announcing the January 22 date for elections, Netanyahu said, "In less than 100 days, the people of Israel will decide who will represent them in the face of the greatest security challenges since the founding of the state, and who will lead them in the face of the greatest economic crisis the world has known in 80 years. I believe that the prime minister should seek a new mandate from the public, and give an accounting of his actions and those of his government."
Netanyahu then went on to give a summary of the condition of the country four years ago and today.
Netanyahu said, "Four years ago, we were in crisis with negative growth. In the first quarter of 2009, growth was minus 3.2%. Unemployment skyrocketed, crossing the 9% line on the way up. The economic crisis that hit the world threatened to collapse the Israeli economy and cause mass unemployment, exactly as has happened in key European countries."
Netanyahu went on, "The home front was completely exposed, and there were no effective deployments against rockets. The Egyptian border was completely open to smugglers and terrorists and the flow of foreign infiltrators was only growing. Entire neighborhoods of Israeli cities, in Eilat, Arad, and Tel Aviv, began to be flooded with these illegal infiltrators. Four years ago, there was deep fear that it would not be possible to stop Iran from achieving a nuclear weapon. That is the condition in which we received the country."
Netanyahu then talked about Israel's current situation, amid unremitting heckling. "We rehabilitated deterrence. We took an aggressive policy against every firing. There has been a significant drop in terrorist attacks against Israel's citizens. We procured and operated many Iron Dome batteries. Here, I wish to offer praise, and say a good word for MK Amir Peretz, who believed in this program when he was defense minister. We've expanded it. Today, we are in a completely different place."
On the Iranian issue, Netanyahu said, "Anyone who ridicules the threat of a nuclear Iran against Israel is not worthy to lead the State of Israel for even one day. Not even one day."
As for the economy, Netanyahu said, "Our responsible policy changed the direction, despite the ongoing global economic crisis. In each of the past four years, we brought the highest growth rate in the West. While unemployment in the world climbed to frightening dimensions, we lowered the unemployment rate here, and unemployment fell to below 7%. We've added more than 330,000 jobs - an all-time high.
"Israel's credit rating has been raised. There is no better evidence of the responsible and successful way in which led the economy. For the first time in years, gaps between different groups in society have narrowed. This is no coincidence, but the result of various actions we took. We raised the minimum wage, gave tax breaks to parents with small children, and we instituted an earned income tax credit.
"Our economic stewardship has achieved growth, and growth creates resources, which enables us to direct resources to very important issues, such as free education from the age of 3. We've invested billions in universities."
Commenting on the housing protest, Netanyahu said, "I focused on the housing problem from my first day in office, long before last year's social protest. We've greatly increased the pace of housing construction. Since I believe that the housing reform should be completed, as far as I am concerned, the entry condition for joining the next coalition will be support for the marketing of land reform."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on October 16, 2012
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