At a cornerstone-laying ceremony for the new settlement of Doran in the Har Hebron area, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich praised Defense Minister Israel Katz for what he described as strong support for settlement and national security. Smotrich said Katz had been unlike previous defense ministers in his clarity and resolve.
Speaking as someone who was born, lives, and has long worked in the area, Smotrich said, “There was no partner for settlement like Israel Katz.” He added that he wanted to thank Katz “for the personal partnership, but much more for what you are doing for the people of Israel.”
Smotrich also said Katz had been “very clear, very determined, very courageous,” and praised him for leading with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in “the third circle, in Lebanon, in Gaza and here in Judea and Samaria.” He said Israelis were feeling “a 180-degree change” in the country’s security concept and that Israel was building a stronger security foundation “for generations ahead.”