Following is the Prime Minister’s statement at the opening of the meeting of the Cabinet for the Strengthening of Haifa and the North:

“On Sunday, the Government resolved to establish a special Cabinet which would handle the subject of rehabilitating Haifa and the North.  After the Government Resolution, on Monday I toured the area in order to form an impression both from the situation and from the Government’s readiness to act quickly to rehabilitate the North and Haifa in the format which was decided upon.  With me were the Directors General of Government ministries, headed by the Director General of the Prime Minister’s Office and the Government’s Coordinator for the Physical Rehabilitation of Haifa and the North, Brigadier General (Res.) Amos Yaron.

Today, we will conduct surveys of these subjects, and on the 27th of this month, we will hear a detailed review of the deployment to defend the home front in the immediate future and for the long-term.  This is part of the speedy action the Government is taking in all its systems, including the security system and civilian systems, to prepare the home front for various scenarios which must be taken into account given the circumstances.

Tomorrow, I will again tour the north of the country, as well as at the beginning of next week, and I intend to instruct all the ministers to devote as much time as they can to touring the north of the country, and holding meetings there.  During the war, many ministers and I did so, and now it is crucial to do this in order to fully implement our resolution to make the rehabilitation of Haifa and the North a central goal of the State of Israel’s national priorities for the near future.
To all this, I would like to add the sacred mission of the Vice Prime Minister in his visits to the United States.  We are speaking of fundraising in the amount of hundreds of millions of dollars, which will be earmarked solely for the purpose of rehabilitating, strengthening, widening and developing Haifa and the North.”