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World Jewish News
Netanyahu: Let's roll up our sleeves and get to work
01.04.2009
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday at a coalition hand-over ceremony at the President's Residence that his government needed to roll up its sleeves and begin work immediately.
Netanyahu said he plans to seek counsel from his predecessor, Ehud Olmert, to whom he referred as an open, attentive person, and one of the most polite, talented people in politics.
"My disagreements with Olmert were accompanied by mutual respect," the new prime minister said.
Also on hand were all 30 ministers, sworn into their posts in a six-hour ceremony at the Knesset on Tuesday, as well as Reuven Rivlin, who returns to his former post of Knesset speaker.
Olmert, delivering his last speech as prime minister, said the job is difficult and demanding, and admitted that he had failed to achieve his major goal of peace.
"I failed to achieve my dream of reaching peace with our neighbors," Olmert said. "I'm not ashamed to admit my mistakes, and I'm sorry for them."
Olmert said he believes it is possible to reach a peace agreement with Syria and the Palestinians, and that he ends his tenure as prime minister with pride and satisfaction.
"I was not fortunate to fulfill my dream and achieve a real peace with our neighbors," Olmert said. "We talked about things [in the negotiations] that we never dared talk about in the past. We made great progress but the work has not yet concluded."
He said quiet had been restored to the north thanks to the Second Lebanon War in 2006 and said he was privileged to oversee great gains by the Israeli economy.
Olmert also reflected on the tougher aspects of his job, saying the prisoner swap with Hezbollah in 2008 had been one of the most difficult moments of his tenure. He said he felt the pain of the family of kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, who has been held for three years in the Gaza Strip by Hamas.
Olmert said Netanyahu's success is the success of all Israel, and that he hoped Netanyahu would use wisdom and consideration in all his decisions.
Speaking after Olmert and Netanyahu, President Shimon Peres recalled that he had also held the position of prime minister. He praised both men, saying that Olmert had met the most serious challenges and had done Israel a great service.
He said the Olmert government had strengthened Israel's international standing, formed close ties with the United States and world leaders and yielded great strategic achievements in defense.
Peres said he valued Netanyahu's efforts to forge a wide coalition, saying the new government has a majority and is legitimate, but urged the new government to make a "supreme effort" to advance the peace process.
"The outgoing government adopted the vision of two states for two peoples, promoted by the U.S. administration and accepted by a majority of countries in the world," Peres said.
"Your government must determine the shape of the coming reality," he said, stopping short of an explicit call for Netanyahu to declare support for the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.
Peres also called on Netanyahu to tend to the economy and prevent layoffs in the face of the world economic crisis.
During his speech at the Knesset Tuesday, Netanyahu said his government was formed to deal with two of Israel's biggest challenges ever: defense - including Iran's nuclear program - and the economic slowdown.
Following the ceremony on Wednesday, opposition chairwoman MK Tzipi Livni (Kadima) said that she is intent on "supporting what is right and attacking what is not."
Silvan Shalom, who accepted Netanyahu's offer to become minister responsible for the Negev and the Galilee, said that "he wishes the new government success and hopes that it will act quickly."
"There is much to do," Shalom said. "The waiting period [between the elections and the formation of the government] was too long. We need to act immediately and to see whether there is a diplomatic horizon with the Arabs and the Muslims."
Meanwhile, Netanyahu on Wednesday cemented a coalition agreement with another religious party, United Torah Judaism.
Under the terms of the agreement, UTJ lawmaker Moshe Gafni will become the chairman of the powerful Knesset Finance Committee.
Источник: Haaretz
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