CABINET COMMUNIQUE
(Communicated by the Cabinet Secretariat)

At the weekly Cabinet meeting today (Sunday), 3.7.11:

1. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made the following remarks:

"Israel is a nation of laws, as I said a few days ago. Nobody is above the
law – and I demand that every Israeli citizen respect the law.

Today's meeting will focus on a series of decisions to improve quality of
life and the environment.

First of all, we will discuss the recommendation of the committee appointed
by Interior Minister Eli Yishai to extend daylight savings time. The
proposal being submitted today extends daylight savings time from 182 days
to 193 days per annum. This will help in coordinating work schedules in
Israel with those in Europe.

You certainly paid attention to the exhibit out in the corridor on
Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan's implementation of the
Government plan to involve Government ministries in the recycling
revolution. Each one of you is invited to take a bin for glass and for
plastic – and everyone can recycle on his or her own. I commend the
Environmental Protection Ministry for this action.

We will also continue on this issue with a series of additional decisions.
First of all, today we will establish an authority to implement the
necessary action regarding the collapse of Israel's coastal escarpment, as
is happening today, to my regret, in Ashkelon, Netanya, Herzliya and in
other places. Today, we will establish the unit to deal with this issue and
thus resolve an matter that has never been dealt with. At long last, we are
dealing with it.

Today, the Cabinet will also decide on something that is very important to
the quality of life of small businesses. Small businesses are the backbone
of growth for any economy, including the Israeli economy and today, we will
decide on a framework to encourage activity by small and intermediate
businesses. This is a result of cooperation between Industry, Trade and
Labor Minister Shalom Simhon, Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz, and, I must
say, myself. I think that this is important and we will embark on an
important path today."

2. The Cabinet approved the following Foreign Service appointments:

* Daniel Taub – Ambassador to Great Britain, and

* Leon Yoel – Consul-General in Montreal.

3. The Cabinet today appointed a ministerial committee to approve a uniform
formula for spelling the names of communities, interchanges, junctions and
historic sites around the country.

The Cabinet today (Sunday), 3.7.11, appointed a ministerial committee to
approve a uniform formula for spelling the names of communities,
interchanges, junctions and historic sites around the country. The uniform
formula will appear – inter alia – on maps and road signs, in textbooks and
guidebooks, and in all other official publications. This is in order to
bring about a uniform written standard and make it easier to read maps and
signs.

The new spelling rules will apply to copying from Hebrew to Latin letters,
from Hebrew to Arabic and from Arabic to Latin letters, and vice-versa. The
new rules will be determined in accordance with the official map index that
was formulated by the Government Names Committee, and which was designed to
create uniform spelling rules that have not been changed since 1957, and
were research-oriented in character.

Upon the approval of the names by the ministerial committee, all bodies and
authorities in the State of Israel will be required to adopt them.

Minister Zeev Binyamin Begin will chair the committee. Its other members
will be: Home Front Defense Minister Matan Vilnai, Science and Technology
Minister Daniel Hershkowitz, Justice Minister Yaakov Neeman, Interior
Minister Eli Yishai, Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz, Tourism Minister
Stas Misezhnikov, Culture and Sports Minister Limor Livnat, Public Diplomacy
and Diaspora Affairs Minister Yuli Edelstein and Public Service Improvement
Minister Michael Eitan.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the decision and said that the
phenomenon in which the names of communities and sites were spelled in a
variety of ways, "required a fundamental change of approach."

4. The Cabinet today unanimously approved draft legislation to extend
daylight savings time.

The Cabinet today (Sunday), 3.7.11, unanimously approved draft legislation
to extend daylight savings time, pursuant to the recommendations of the
committee chaired by Dan Kehat, which was appointed by Interior Minister Eli
Yishai.

According to the legislation, daylight savings time will be extended to an
average of 193 days, as opposed to 182 today. The shift to daylight savings
time will come into effect at 02:00 on the Friday of the last week in March
and will end at 02:00 on the Sunday after October 1.

Extending daylight savings time will promote better coordination with
Europe's economic clock, extend daylight hours and save electricity and
resources for the Israeli economy. In order to hasten completion of the
legislation so that it might take effect this year, the Cabinet authorized
the Ministerial Committee on Legislation to discuss the draft and submit it
to the Knesset.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that this was an important and long
overdue step: "Now, we will be able to consider how the issue works in
practice. This has been discussed for years and it was not possible to check
its actual effects, but we are taking action."

5. The Cabinet decided to establish approximately 15 youth centers in the
center of the country to provide – inter alia – counseling on higher
education, employment and business guidance and housing advice.

The Cabinet today (Sunday), 3.7.11, decided to establish approximately 15
youth centers in the center of the country to provide – inter alia –
counseling on higher education, employment and business guidance and housing
advice.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that, "I commend Deputy Minister Gila
Gamliel's determination. She has worked tirelessly on behalf of the youth of
this country."

Deputy Minister Gamliel said that, "The plan is an additional step in
realizing the potential of the State of Israel's young people as a national
resource."

6. The Cabinet today unanimously approved the plan to encourage small and
medium businesses in Israel.

The Cabinet today (Sunday), 3.7.11, unanimously approved the plan to
encourage small and medium businesses in Israel so as to increase the scope
of their activity and their profits. According to the plan, which was
advanced by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Industry, Trade and Labor
Minister Shalom Simhon and Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz, a compensation
fund will be established to assist independent employees in the event of
business closings. Additionally, the number of businesses that pay VAT upon
payment from their customers, and not upon the issuing of the invoice, will
be increased. This will correct the distortion that causes many businesses
to become caught up in cash flow problems by paying the tax well before
receiving anything.

Also, a draft law to encourage small and medium business activity will be
formulated in the framework of which, inter alia, the scope to which these
business participate in Government purchasing will be increased.

Prime Minister Netanyahu said that, "Small businesses are the backbone of
growth for any economy, including the Israeli economy. These businesses are
a significant source of economic growth and are important in creating new
jobs. We are obligated to push them forward."

7. The Cabinet discussed ways to deal with the collapse of Israel's coastal
escarpment and decided to propose that the Ariel Sharon Park Company – under
terms that will be decided upon in conjunction with the Environmental
Protection Ministry – plan, implement and maintain a policy to protect the
Mediterranean Sea coastal escarpment from collapse, in keeping with the
Cabinet's 25.4.10 decision.

8. Environmental Protection Minister Erdan briefed the Cabinet on the steps
being taken to implement the "Green government" policy in the various
ministries. He noted that all ministries will receive containers for the
collection and classification of various kinds of wastes for recycling.