Yamina leader Ayelet Shaked, who replaced Shas leader Aryeh Deri as Interior Minister on Monday, said that she plans on returning illegal migrants in Israel to their countries of origin.

“The state of Israel is a Jewish state,” Shaked said at the ministerial exchange ceremony. “I’ll do everything in my power to implement responsible policy immigration while providing basic humanitarian needs.”

“I’ll work on returning infiltrators to their countries and encourage voluntary departures to safe countries. We have to defend Israel and its borders.”

Shaked said that she could have chosen any ministry she wanted during the coalition negotiations and she chose the Interior Ministry as “its one of the most important ministries in the state of Israel. As Justice Minister, I sat with representatives of the Interior Ministry and I saw how important it is to every Israeli citizen and society.”

“The state of Israel has been experiencing a housing crisis for many years,” Shaked continued. “In the last year there has been a significant decrease in construction, land allocation, and the issuance of permits, and there has been an increase in housing prices. The Interior Ministry has many tools that can provide the proper solutions to this crisis. I will work hard to shorten and expedite planning procedures, increase the supply of housing, expedite the issuance of planning approvals, and simplify the procedures for obtaining building permits.”

“I will work to implement business licensing reform so that business owners and freelancers won’t have to deal with a large number of regulatory bodies and the process of obtaining a license will be efficient and user-friendly.”

“I believe that every effort should be made to correct bureaucratic issues, reduce regulation, create cooperation between the various governing bodies, reduce gaps between different strata of the population, maintain the borders and character of Israel, and above all, safeguard the safety and security of Israeli citizens,” Shaked concluded.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)