Economy Minister Nir Barkat was interviewed Sunday at the Besheva Group's Jerusalem Conference in New York.
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"The monopolies will no longer be able to use their power to pull prices down unfairly. My goal is to make sure that everyone who can bring cheap imported products to Israel," he said with regard to the economy.
"The more the Palestinians from Area C subvert Israeli society, the better their economic situation is, and we invest efforts in this. The idea is that the more Palestinians cooperate with the State of Israel, the better. We want to create more joint industrial zones where Israelis and Palestinians work together. Strategically, the plan is to help more Palestinians working in Israel cross the fence and return to their homes. You want their economy to be linked to ours because together we are more successful and so are they," he said.
With regard to the security situation, Barkat said, "If, God forbid, we are attacked by Iran's affiliates at our borders, the Iranians will not sleep well at night. The Iranians need to understand that we understand their strategy, and they need to know that we cannot let their citizens sleep well at night, if God forbid they attack us!"
