TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma'an) -- Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Tuesday said Israel should not cut funding for the military because "security-wise we don't live in Switzerland of Finland."
Onboard ship on the occasion of the navy commander's final sail, Barak said the protest movement in Israel was "an important and exciting social phenomenon being run in a responsible way".
However, considering the unrest in the region, "We must remember that security-wise we don't live in Switzerland or Finland. We are in a burning field," the Israeli news site Ynet quoted him as saying.