http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1075228.html
Last update - 18:36 31/03/2009
Netanyahu: Israel seeks lasting peace with Arabs
By Haaretz Service
Tags: likud, ehud olmert
Incoming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared on Tuesday that under
his leadership, Israel would continue to work toward a comprehensive peace with
the Arab and Muslim world.
"We will not let anyone question our right to exist," he told lawmakers
gathered at the Knesset in Jerusalem for the swearing-in of the new coalition.
"Israel can`t afford to treat statements against it light-heartedly."
In his address, Netanyahu called radical Islam and the Iranian regime
major threats to regional security, but praised Islam itself as a rich
religion.
As he prepared to take on his new role, Netanyahu also warned the
Palestinian Authority that it must do its part to fight terror if it is serious
about peace.
He also said that he would do whatever it takes to free abducted Israel
Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit, who has been in Palestinian captivity
since he was abducted in a 2006 cross-border raid from the Gaza Strip.
Netanyahu thanked outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert for his "devoted
service" to the state, and promised to engage in peace talks with "sincerity
and a clear mind."
Following his address, Netanyahu began to name the 30 new ministers and
deputy ministers appointed to serve in the new government coalition.
Olmert delivered his final speech as premier just before Netanyahu's
address, urging the new coalition to follow in his government's path and make
the peace process a central focus of the coming term.
"Our avid peace efforts were acknowledged by the international
community," he said. In particular, the outgoing prime minister called on
Netanyahu to continue on the Syria track, a process which Olmert jumpstarted
during his term.
"As I step down from the premiership, I am not the least bit resentful,"
Olmert said, adding that he was proud of his own government's achievements.
Olmert's tenure as prime minister was heavily criticized throughout, with
two wars and a dozen investigations into his alleged corruption.
During his address, the outgoing prime minister defended his government's
decision to carry out the 2006 war in Lebanon and the recent operation in the
Gaza Strip.
The Israel Defense Forces is "most moral army in the world," Olmert
declared, adding that this was evident by Israel's actions during its offensive
on the Gaza Strip earlier this year.
He also defended the government's decision to carry out the 2006 Second
Lebanon War against Hezbollah militants, despite widespread criticism of the
state's handling of that war.
"The outcomes of Second Lebanon War, in long run, are positive," Olmert
said, adding that the war "changed strategic balance along the border in our
favor."
Opposition leader Tzipi Livni, who lost out on the opportunity to form
the new government despite her Kadima party's slim win in the February
elections, took the podium to deliver the third address at the government
swearing in.
She began her speech by wishing the new government success, but quickly
added that could not wish success to a coalition deal that would "not benefit
the state at all."
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