Prime Minister Netanyahu addresses the nation in evening press conference

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the nation this evening, prefacing his speech by expressing condolences to the Dee family who lost two daughters and their mother, in a terror attack that occurred on Friday, April 7th.

He went on to say that Israel is in the midst of a terror wave that began due to skirmishes at the Temple Mount area. He then posed the question of how the enemy views what appears to be a collapsing society (referring to the massive ongoing protests). He said they view it as a weakness, making it easy to attack.

He said we must act responsibly as he intends to do, himself. Admitting it will take time, he assured the nation that we will prevail. He said that the actions already taken in Syria are just the beginning and that Assad’s government will pay a heavy price. He also said that a Hamas terror group will not be permitted to exist in Lebanon.

There was a reference to the scores of terrorists who have already been killed in the territories of Judea and Samaria and that all who have perpetrated terror will be found and killed. The Prime Minister also said that the defense minister, Yoav Gallant will remain in his position, although he failed to mention anything about his having been fired just a couple of weeks ago nor did he apologize for it.

He ended by thanking our security authorities, police, soldiers and others who guard our people and our nation. Several reporters asked questions – one concerning recent polls which show a growing trend towards Knesset Member, Benny Gantz and former prime minister Yair Lapid, both of whom would be elected by a wider margin if elections were held today. His response was that they are incapable of handling the terror.