ISRAEL'S CABINET COMMUNIQUÉS
(Communicated by the Cabinet Secretariat). At
the weekly Cabinet meeting today (Sunday), 22.1.06:
1. Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert welcomed the new ministers for whom this
was their first meeting - Health Minister and Negev and Galilee Development
Minister Yaacov Edri, Housing and Construction Minister and Agriculture and
Rural Development Minister Zeev Boim, and National Infrastructures Minister and
Science and Technology Minister Ronni Bar-On. The Acting Prime Minister wished
them success.
2. OC Intelligence Maj.-Gen. Amos Yedlin, ISA Director Yuval Diskin, Defense
Minister Shaul Mofaz and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni briefed ministers on
current security and diplomatic matters. They referred to the effort of the
US-led forces to change the face of the Middle East by fostering democracy and
fighting extremist Islam and terrorism and the counter-effort led by Iran, Syria
and the global Jihad movement. They discussed Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad's visit to Syria, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's recent speech
to Arab jurists, the situation in Lebanon vis-à-vis Hezbollah and the
Iranian-Syrian axis, and Palestinian affairs ahead of the upcoming elections,
especially the close contest between Hamas and Fatah. Defense Minister Mofaz
said that against the background of the Palestinian Authority (PA) legislative
elections, there were also warnings regarding attempts to perpetrate terrorist
attacks. He estimated that there will be additional attempts to perpetrate
attacks similar to that carried out last week by Islamic Jihad at the old
central bus station area in Tel Aviv. He said that the attack in Tel Aviv was
perpetrated against the background of the Damascus meeting between the
presidents of Iran and Syria, which underscored the link between Iran's
financing, guidance and ideology and those elements in Damascus which are
sponsoring and encouraging the perpetration of terrorist attacks against
Israel. The money came from Iran, the instructions came from Damascus and the
terrorist came from the Nablus area. Defense Minister Mofaz said that Iran was
transferring considerable funds to Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad, with the
terrorist organizations in Judea and Samaria demanding their share for each
terrorist attack. Syria continues to be under increasing US pressure in order
to implement UN Security Council Resolution #1559 (http://tinyurl.com/dlejl)
regarding the withdrawal of Syrian forces from Lebanon so as to enable the
Lebanese army to deploy its forces in the south, regarding the withdrawal of the
Iranian Revolutionary Guards from Lebanon, and regarding the disbanding of the
Hamas and Islamic Jihad command centers in Damascus. Damascus is still under
the heavy shadow of the inquiry into the murder of former Lebanese Prime
Minister Rafik Hariri. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni discussed the upcoming PA
elections and recalled the international community's long-standing demand that
the Palestinians - in accordance with both the Roadmap and the Palestinians' own
commitments - undergo a process of democratization including not only elections
but the need to carry our reforms and disarm the terrorist organizations. In
practice, this has not happened. The Foreign Minister said that after the PA
elections, two international forums are due to discuss their results. The
Quartet is expected to meet on 30.1.06 as are the European Union foreign
ministers. She noted that the international community has dispatched observers
to the elections and added that the Foreign Ministry is working with them.
Regarding the Iranian issue, Foreign Minister Livni said that a special meeting
of the International Atomic Energy Agency Board of Governors is due to convene
in Vienna on 2.2.06 (http://tinyurl.com/croa2) following the recent Iranian
decision to remove the seals at sites related to uranium enrichment. Israel
emphasizes that this is not an Israeli problem but a global problem. Public
Security Minister Gideon Ezra briefed ministers on last week's events in Wadi
Ara.
3. Pursuant to its authority under the 1958 Engineers and Architects Law,
the Cabinet appointed Ayalon Bernhard and Shamai Asif to the Engineering and
Architecture Council.
4. Pursuant to its authority under the 1965 Israel Broadcasting Authority Law,
the Cabinet appointed Israel Broadcasting Authority plenum member Gabriela
Shalev as Deputy IBA Chairwoman for six months.
5. The Cabinet decided to reject the Finance Minister's appeal against the
decision by the Ministerial Committee on Legislation to approve certain
amendments to Israeli lands legislation; see http://tinyurl.com/ag7ll for
details.
6. The Cabinet decided to establish a ministerial committee to discuss graves
that are uncovered during infrastructure work or archaeological excavations.
Transportation and Education, Culture and Sports Minister Meir Shetrit will
chair the committee; ministers Boim, Edri and Ezra will also be members. Deputy
Minister Ruhama Avraham and representatives of Attorney-General Meni Mazuz and
the Chief Rabbis Yonah Metzger and Shlomo Amar will attend committee meetings.
__________________________________________________________________________________
ISRAEL'S
CABINET COMMUNIQUÉ
(Communicated by the Cabinet Secretariat). At the special
Cabinet meeting today: 1. The Cabinet approved the appointment of three
new ministers and a redistribution of portfolios among existing
ministers. Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said, "Our intention is to
efficiently continue the work of government in all ministries. The
Government must provide services, make decisions and manage all systems
in an orderly fashion; this is what we are doing and what we will
continue to do. Bringing in the new ministers and redistributing
portfolios to existing ministers will enable us to do so in the best
possible way." Attorney-General Meni Mazuz made it clear that the
Government has been a transitional Government since 30.12.05 and
discussed the relevant articles of Basic Law: The Government (http://tinyurl.com/2v5nk).
Pursuant to Article 30b of Basic Law: The Government, the Cabinet
decided as follows: MK Ronni Bar-On will serve as National
Infrastructures Minister and Science and Technology Minister; MK Ze'ev
Boim will serve as Construction and Housing Minister and Agriculture and
Rural Development Minister; MK Yaacov Edri will serve as Health Minister
and Negev and Galilee Development Minister; MK Meir Shetrit will serve
as Education, Culture and Sports Minister, in addition to serving as
Transportation and Road Safety Minister; MK Tzipi Livni will serve as
Foreign Minister in addition to serving as Justice Minister and
Immigrant Absorption Minister; MK Gideon Ezra will serve as Environment
Minister in addition to serving as Public Security Minister; MK Avraham
Hirchson will serve as Communications minister in addition to serving as
Tourism Minister. The Knesset will be duly informed of the foregoing
according to Articles 9a and 10 of Basic Law: The Government. Acting
Prime Minister Olmert said: "Some of you are accepting upon
yourselves great responsibility as new ministers. Do not forget that we
are on the eve of elections and all of the rules, which Attorney-General
Mazuz has communicated to each of you, must be remembered very well. We
have no reason to deal with appointments and I recommend that those
holding senior positions - including ministry directors-general -
continue to do so. This is not the time for appointments, not even to
positions-of-confidence. This is important and I very much request that
you see to it. Of course, I wish each of you success. I ask that you
quickly take up those matters that need to be dealt with because several
of these might naturally have been overlooked for some time and thus
require your personal attention and involvement." 2. Pursuant to Basic
Law: The Government and with the agreement of Acting Prime Minister
Olmert, the Cabinet approved the appointment of MK Majli Wahabee as
Deputy Minister in the Education, Culture and Sports Ministry. 3. The
Cabinet approved Ministers Bar-On's and Edri's inclusion as members of
the Ministerial Committee on Socio-economic Affairs, and Minister Tzahi
Hanegbi's inclusion as a member of the Ministerial Committee on the ISA.