"I have met Arab businesswomen and I was extraordinarily impressed by them. I saw the spark in the eyes of these women, who founded and nurtured their businesses. I saw pride and the power to rise without restriction, and this is a wonderful thing," said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Prime Minister's Conference at the Jaffa Port today. The conference was sponsored by the Prime Minister's Office unit the Authority for the Economic Development of the Arab, Druze and Circassian Sector.
"If there is something that should be done, it is to strengthen the entrepreneurial spirit and the realization that we can succeed."
"The greatest change that we can do is the mental change from dependence to independence and creativity. I have seen immigrants from Asia who arrived in various countries who always nurtured two things: education and entrepreneurship. Education alone is not enough, because education alone can create an entire generation of people unable to find work in their field. The Korean community in the US shows this combination. They arrived there with nothing, but with education and business entrepreneurship, they have undergone huge change. We need to see this in Israel, too."
Netanyahu also made it clear that he recognizes that the state has a role to play in the integration of minorities in the Israeli economy:
"We also have to work and help. We are making a full effort for this because, for our part, we must help all segments of society. We have invested almost NIS 800 million in the plan for economic development in 13 Arab towns, which account for a quarter of the community. We will learn from this pilot and we will continue in the other towns."