Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu addressed the 8th Negev Conference in Dimona on Tuesday, 4 Nissan.

Following are excerpts from his remarks:

“Israel is surrounded by outposts of radical Islam; therefore, we need to safeguard our borders. We have completed a major endeavor: Building a fence along more than 200 kilometers of border with Sinai.

“Were it not for the fence, we would be faced with a broken trough – severe attacks by Sinai terrorists, and something much worse, a flood of illegal migrants from Africa. We are talking about a Jewish and democratic state but how could we assure a Jewish and democratic state with 50,000 and then 100,000 and 150,000 migrants a year.

“After a million, 1.5 million, one could close up shop. But we have not closed down. We built a fence and at the same time, with concern for security needs, we are making a major investment in infrastructures.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)