Netanyahu: "I do not eat non-kosher foods"
The Prime Minister was interviewed on Channel 2, and talked about meetings with Obama and Adelson, Zero Tax plan, deficit and Haredim
- Avi Schiff
- י"א תשרי התשע"ה
Photo: Flash 90
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu responded for the first time on several issues which were raised recently on the agenda, in a special interview he gave to Amit Segal on News 2. Among other things, he gave his response that to the storm which followed his meeting with Sheldon Adelson at a non-kosher restaurant in New York.
Initially, he referred to 'Peace Now': "First of all there are two components, one is irresponsibility, indeed on the international level of some factor (Peace Now) which published a stator plan which is there to sabotage a very important meeting that discussed the Iranian nuclear program, which discussed our basic security issues, ISIS and other things, simply irresponsible. But there was also a second component which is the attitude of the American government to the fact that Jews are buying homes in Jerusalem, and that is defined as an attack and poison and all that stuff. I can not accept that, if you would say to Jews here in the United States in some city or some region, that Jews are forbidden to buy a house here, there would a terrible outcry, so Jews can not buy a house in Jerusalem? Jews can buy a house in Jerusalem, they can buy a home wherever they want, this is the real way to promote any kind of co-existence rather than the opposite. I can not accept it. "
"The City of David is equal to that of Rechavia," Netanyahu said. "We are not limiting anything, but more than that, regarding the Temple Mount there is a status quo which was set nearly 50 years ago, after the Six-Day War, we keep that, I'm not suggesting we start to spark religious wars here. Yeah? But regarding Jerusalem, I can not accept it as Prime Minister of Israel that the right of Jews to live in any place in the capital of Israel would be restricted, this is absurd! And I do not hide it, I said that even in public. While this did not come up individually in a conversation with the president since we did not know their entire attitude, but I'm sorry it did not come up, since I would have indicated in this conversation exactly what I said on American television, a few hours later."
Netanyahu was asked about the fact that previous to his meeting with Obama he had met with Sheldon Adelson - the man who has invested hundreds of millions of dollars, only to impeach Barack Obama. "I meet with my friends on all sides of the political divide on a personal and colleague basis of many years, both Democrats and Republicans, it does not cast a shadow on anything. I can tell you one thing, I make sure not only at the prime minister and public events, even on private events, that I do not eat non-kosher foods. I also have at least two kashrut supervisors with me - Yair and Avner. We keep it and I keep it, so is my custom, and I think it's right to do both as Prime Minister of Israel and beyond that we do it as a Jewish family."
The Prime Minister also addressed the issue of the deficit, "To rise from 3.2 to 3.4, you know, I was interested in what the world's leading rating agency has to say about it, and they basically said, we absorb it to 3.6, so we were in the boundaries. I say this individual thing to explain one thing, I have to balance the two requirements, one requirement that I led, to increase the defense budget, I wish we could give more, because we need it in face of ISIS in the East, and al-Nussra on the fences in the Golan Heights, and Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Hamas, and also the Jihadists in South Sinai and you always have Iran which is arming. Facing this reality, I demand an increase in the defense budget, and we all know what would have happened if I would not have done it after Operatin Pillar of Cloud, and brought thousands of interceptors of Iron Dome to stop the missiles, so now too we are doing it. On the other hand, there are limitations of society as well as the economy both of which you have to worry about, so one had to balance those things, and that's my responsibility, at the end it is this balance."
Relating to the Zero VAT, Netanyahu said: "Look, this is a program in which the finance minister believes. He promoted it and I told him, listen, if you believe in it, fine. I was not excited, I do not deny it, but I said, how do you say, we are in a partnership, you believe in it, go for it. "
Netanyahu also addressed the resignation of Interior Minister Gideon Sa'ar, and said, "I respect all those who decide to do whatever they want depending on their ambitions or their evaluation regarding their ability to realize their aspirations, it is a personal decision, but I can say that I have led until now three governments and I think under difficult conditions to the State of Israel, and we are doing so many things together, not only to ensure the security, to develop roads and rails, and stop fences and flow. So people can decide individually. You know what, I too retired at some point, but I did not assign this responsibility on anyone, I said I myself am taking, as you say, some timeout. It is natural."
Finally, he addressed the issue of early elections, "I want a stable government, I think it is a mistake to go for elections now, after a year and a half, and in the great turmoil we're in, I think that Israel should be strong and stable, and certainly early elections do not help this, if we can continue with this coalition – all the better, if not, we will certainly get to elections. Hopefully we can continue as much as possible, but I've always been in favor of expanding it as much as possible. Always."
Initially, he referred to 'Peace Now': "First of all there are two components, one is irresponsibility, indeed on the international level of some factor (Peace Now) which published a stator plan which is there to sabotage a very important meeting that discussed the Iranian nuclear program, which discussed our basic security issues, ISIS and other things, simply irresponsible. But there was also a second component which is the attitude of the American government to the fact that Jews are buying homes in Jerusalem, and that is defined as an attack and poison and all that stuff. I can not accept that, if you would say to Jews here in the United States in some city or some region, that Jews are forbidden to buy a house here, there would a terrible outcry, so Jews can not buy a house in Jerusalem? Jews can buy a house in Jerusalem, they can buy a home wherever they want, this is the real way to promote any kind of co-existence rather than the opposite. I can not accept it. "
"The City of David is equal to that of Rechavia," Netanyahu said. "We are not limiting anything, but more than that, regarding the Temple Mount there is a status quo which was set nearly 50 years ago, after the Six-Day War, we keep that, I'm not suggesting we start to spark religious wars here. Yeah? But regarding Jerusalem, I can not accept it as Prime Minister of Israel that the right of Jews to live in any place in the capital of Israel would be restricted, this is absurd! And I do not hide it, I said that even in public. While this did not come up individually in a conversation with the president since we did not know their entire attitude, but I'm sorry it did not come up, since I would have indicated in this conversation exactly what I said on American television, a few hours later."
Netanyahu was asked about the fact that previous to his meeting with Obama he had met with Sheldon Adelson - the man who has invested hundreds of millions of dollars, only to impeach Barack Obama. "I meet with my friends on all sides of the political divide on a personal and colleague basis of many years, both Democrats and Republicans, it does not cast a shadow on anything. I can tell you one thing, I make sure not only at the prime minister and public events, even on private events, that I do not eat non-kosher foods. I also have at least two kashrut supervisors with me - Yair and Avner. We keep it and I keep it, so is my custom, and I think it's right to do both as Prime Minister of Israel and beyond that we do it as a Jewish family."
The Prime Minister also addressed the issue of the deficit, "To rise from 3.2 to 3.4, you know, I was interested in what the world's leading rating agency has to say about it, and they basically said, we absorb it to 3.6, so we were in the boundaries. I say this individual thing to explain one thing, I have to balance the two requirements, one requirement that I led, to increase the defense budget, I wish we could give more, because we need it in face of ISIS in the East, and al-Nussra on the fences in the Golan Heights, and Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Hamas, and also the Jihadists in South Sinai and you always have Iran which is arming. Facing this reality, I demand an increase in the defense budget, and we all know what would have happened if I would not have done it after Operatin Pillar of Cloud, and brought thousands of interceptors of Iron Dome to stop the missiles, so now too we are doing it. On the other hand, there are limitations of society as well as the economy both of which you have to worry about, so one had to balance those things, and that's my responsibility, at the end it is this balance."
Relating to the Zero VAT, Netanyahu said: "Look, this is a program in which the finance minister believes. He promoted it and I told him, listen, if you believe in it, fine. I was not excited, I do not deny it, but I said, how do you say, we are in a partnership, you believe in it, go for it. "
Netanyahu also addressed the resignation of Interior Minister Gideon Sa'ar, and said, "I respect all those who decide to do whatever they want depending on their ambitions or their evaluation regarding their ability to realize their aspirations, it is a personal decision, but I can say that I have led until now three governments and I think under difficult conditions to the State of Israel, and we are doing so many things together, not only to ensure the security, to develop roads and rails, and stop fences and flow. So people can decide individually. You know what, I too retired at some point, but I did not assign this responsibility on anyone, I said I myself am taking, as you say, some timeout. It is natural."
Finally, he addressed the issue of early elections, "I want a stable government, I think it is a mistake to go for elections now, after a year and a half, and in the great turmoil we're in, I think that Israel should be strong and stable, and certainly early elections do not help this, if we can continue with this coalition – all the better, if not, we will certainly get to elections. Hopefully we can continue as much as possible, but I've always been in favor of expanding it as much as possible. Always."
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