Netanyahu addresses crowd of 350 new immigrants at Ben-Gurion Airport, welcomes Kadima MK's decision to accept new role.
By JPOST.COM STAFFNetanyahu 370(photo credit: Moshe Milner/GPO)
Avi Dichter will "protect the Home Front, as he did all his life" in his new role as Home Front Defense Minister, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Tuesday.Speaking at Ben Gurion Airport to 350 new immigrants, fresh off the plane from Canada and the United States, Netanyahu took the opportunity to address the Kadima MK's decision made overnight, to quit the Knesset and join the cabinet.At the request of Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Dichter will replace outgoing Home Front Defense Minister Matan Vilna’i, who will leave next week for Beijing to be Israel’s next ambassador to China.Netanyahu recalled Dichter's previous position as director of the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), and together with him in the IDF General Staff Reconnaissance Unit, and expressed faith that he would succeed in his new role, "in his contribution to the state's security."Of the 350 new immigrants that arrived in Israel Tuesday, 127 young men and women were set to enlist in the IDF. "I take my hat off to you," the prime minster said to the new immigrants, kol hakavod (well done.) "The 350 people who made aliya today decided to link their future to the Jewish people," Netanyahu continued.Lauding the new immigrants in the audience that were soon to join the army Netanyahu said, "for years the Jews could not defend themselves, and we can now defend our future, and it is our privilege that you decided to do this.""The most important job is to defend the Jewish state. We are proud of you. the whole of Israel is proud of you," he told them.
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