Full remarks [all remarks are translated from Hebrew]:
Prime Minister Netanyahu:
“Good morning, yesterday we returned a Thai national who was murdered and whose body was taken hostage by Hamas on October 7. The last fallen hostage remaining in the Gaza Strip is Border Police Staff Sergeant Major Ran Gvili, of blessed memory. Ran Gvili is a hero of Israel – he fought to defend Kibbutz Alumim, eliminated 14 terrorists and did so with utmost bravery. Sadly, he was killed in that battle and his body was taken hostage. We are determined to bring Ran back for a proper Jewish burial and we will spare no effort to do so. My wife and I are in constant, continuous contact with his family, a wonderful family. We will bring him back just as we brought back 254 hostages. They say it’s ‘unbelievable.’ I believed, you believed, and together we did the unbelievable. We are determined to bring him back too, and we will bring back every last hostage.
Another matter: Today I am bringing the appointment of Maj.-Gen. roman gofman as the next Director of the Mossad. Roman is a commander with many achievements in the IDF. He has served as my military secretary. Roman accompanied me over the last year in the War of Redemption and in Operation Rising Lion. He worked with the entire IDF, including and especially with the Mossad. He possesses proven qualities of leadership, creativity, sophistication, and stratagem on a global scale.
He has two other very strong qualities – initiative and seeking contact. This was evident when he was a boy. He was being bothered a bit where he studied, so he went to learn boxing and placed second in the youth championship in Israel. But the most important thing you may not know: He was the most senior IDF officer on October 7 who ran to the battlefield. He was wounded there, recovered, and is doing tremendous work for the security of Israel. I am sure he will continue to do so with even greater fervor in his next role in the Mossad.
My fellow Ministers, we are now opening the Government meeting to approve the state budget for 2026. We are presenting a responsible, balanced budget, and mainly a budget that meets all the security needs of the State of Israel. In the War of Redemption, we have amassed enormous achievements; our victories on seven fronts make one simple thing clear – the State of Israel is the strongest country in the Middle East, and I add: This is also related to the fact that it has a strong and stable economy. Investments are flowing and will continue to flow. The stock market is breaking records. The shekel has strengthened. Interest rates have dropped and unemployment is at a low. And all this during a war. No one believed this either, but we believed, you believed, Minister of Finance, and we did it together.
In the current budget, we intend to lower taxes, including income tax. We also intend to reduce regulation and streamline our governmental systems. I know you will all cooperate in your ministries. We will continue to develop the communities in the North and South that were affected; they are going to prosper more than ever before. And the most important thing in this budget is aid and grants for IDF soldiers in the standing army and in the reserves, and for their families, because they deserve it. We will grant them all the support they need, a framework we have already built, and it will grow even larger. Together, we are presenting a good budget for the State of Israel, and I am certain that this budget will pass.”
Finance Minister Smotrich:
“Prime Minister, thank you very much on behalf of all of us. I think you made our day with Roman’s appointment; we will get into a much better, happier atmosphere. I am saying this – thank you in advance. We are doing this for the fourth time. I checked – in all the years of the Prime Minister as Prime Minister, and perhaps even before, governments have not succeeded in passing a budget in an election year. It has never worked. I said we are doing it for the fourth time. But this whole process now of the budget from the beginning and the growth-supporting reforms, it will be a challenging 24 hours.
I promise, and I want to ask you, that everything will be in a good spirit and atmosphere. We are here to try to provide solutions, to meet the needs as much as possible, with the constraints, with the limitations, and as the Prime Minister noted, still with a great security burden that we must place on the shoulders of the Israeli economy, but with many great tidings for the people of Israel. Some of the good news comes through you, through the ministries, and some will be in the reforms.
The Prime Minister described the fantastic macro data, and you know my position – this is first of all divine assistance, then the strong market forces, a strong economy, initiative, creativity, the DNA of a people accustomed to growing and prospering out of every crisis for 2,000 years, but apparently also the responsibility of all of us around this table. And our correct navigation of the economy through the stormy waters, without populism, knowing where to expand, for the reservists, for the evacuees, for the survivors, for the rehabilitation of the North, the South, for everything the army and the security systems need, but also where to cut back, where to set boundaries and where to take responsibility for less popular measures. The reality speaks for itself, the macro is fantastic, but I want it to be clear to all of us – this macro is not what you take to the grocery store. That is our good tidings in this budget, and you will see it throughout the day in the budget and the reforms – it is about bringing these fantastic data down to the pocket of the citizens of the State of Israel.
We are lifting the economy and lowering prices; this is a challenge. There will be discussions, debates, and complexity here. I expect that all of us at the end, as one person, with one heart, will correct, improve, and change, each in his ministry, but together. I wanted to say today, but the ceremony is that it continues until tomorrow, so there is no choice. Before Shabbat, we will bring very great tidings to the people of Israel and I am convinced that we will succeed in this together. Thank you, Prime Minister, for backing the Government Secretary, for the ministers who have been in these processes for a very long period. With G-d’s help, we will do and succeed.”