Responsibility Saved Israeli Economy, Netanyahu Says

JERUSALEM, Israel -- Responsible leadership as well as accurate defense spending saved the Israeli economy from decline as in other Western nations, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

"Thanks to the responsibility with which we have led the Israeli economy in recent years Israel has not reached the places that many Western economies -- which used to be stronger than ours -- have reached, and we must continue this responsible policy, the prime minister told the 4th International Cybersecurity Conference.

Netanyahu said Israel needed a "responsible budget" that would answer the "security threats" directed at Israel and that would not "adversely affect the Israeli economy."

He noted that the billions that Israel had invested in the Iron Dome anti-missile system had actually saved the Israeli economy.

"We need funds for Iron Dome in order to deal with ISIS in the east, Hezbollah and al Qaeda in the north and Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the south," Netanyahyu said.

"The billions that we invested in thousands of Iron Dome interceptors enabled the Israeli economy to continue to function during the recent campaign and prevented the flight of investments from Israel," he said.

Netanyahu also said the billions that Israel invested in a security fence along the Israeli-Egyptian border "completely blocked illegal migration into the State of Israel as well as the jihadists from Sinai, which was a clear threat to the economy, society and state."

Israel needs to "significantly increase" its defense budget, he said, to meet "new and growing threats in our region," such as the 'nuclearization' of Iran, terrorist threats and attempts at deligimitization.

"I think that it is within our power to meet all of these challenges as long as we do so responsibly and do not lead Israel into an out-of-control deficit, with an out-of-control international overdraft," he concluded.