Knesset to hold emergency session on southern security

Reuven Rivlin: Government must ensure that all home front needs are met so we can continue our daily routine as much as possible.

By LAHAV HARKOV
Rivlin 311 (photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem)
Rivlin 311
(photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem)
The Knesset will hold an emergency meeting on Tuesday to discuss the security situation in the South.
The meeting, which will be held during the Knesset’s summer recess, was announced last week, after opposition factions called for a discussion of the housing protests.
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On Monday, Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin added home front preparedness for attacks on the South to the agenda, after receiving a request with signatures from all the coalition factions, as well as the National Union.
“Our success in every battle depends on the home front’s strength, and the government must ensure that all of the home front’s needs are met so we can continue our daily routine as much as possible,” Rivlin explained.
The meeting will address reinforcement of school and hospital walls to protect those inside from rockets and missiles, an issue that Rivlin said requires additional attention during a trip to the South with the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Sunday.
“In less than two weeks, the new school year will begin throughout the country. It cannot be that children in Tel Aviv will study safely, while children in Ashkelon will have to risk their lives,” Rivlin said.
“The government must provide residents with all of their needs in order to help them deal with this reality.”
In addition, the Knesset Finance Committee plans to discuss the construction of a reinforced emergency room at Ashkelon’s Barzilai Medical Center, and the protection of schools in the South.
Last Tuesday, the Knesset discussed the housing protests and the cost of living in another emergency meeting called after Rivlin received a letter with 50 MK signatures.
Immediately following the three-hour meeting, Kadima complained about the “shameful absence” of most Likud MKs, and began gathering signatures for this week’s discussion.
“Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s tax policies have abused the Israeli public for the last two-and-a-half years,” a Kadima spokesman said.
“He is responsible for the rising price of electricity, water, public transportation, food and dairy products.
“This government is trying to prevent public discourse, and therefore, as long as the protest continues, Kadima will continue convening the Knesset to discuss it,” the spokesman said.