Quds city (Jerusalem), April 01, SPA -- Formally handing over the reins of government, outgoing Israeli Premier Ehud Olmert urged new Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to continue the peace process. "There is no other path for the state of Israel, other than striving for peace," Olmert told Netanyahu during a ceremony in Jerusalem formally celebrating the changing of the guards. "I am ending my task with a sense of pride and satisfaction," an at times visibly emotional Olmert said. "I have no bitterness or anger. ... "But one thing I didn't get to do. I didn't get to realize my dream of arriving at real peace with our neighbors." President Shimon Peres, who hosted the red-carpet ceremony at his Jerusalem residence, urged the Netanyahu government to "adopt the vision of two states for two peoples," as had the outgoing government at the November 2007 peace summit in Annapolis, Maryland, according to a report of DPA. Netanyahu and his government were sworn in late Tuesday, after 69 of the Knesset's 120 lawmakers voted confidence in it. Another 45 voted against, while the remaining six abstained, including five Labor Party members who vehemently opposed their leader Ehud Barak's decision to join the Netanyahu coalition. An Arab-Israeli legislator, Ahmed Tibi, also stayed away from the swearing in as a protest against the right-leaning government. After Wednesday's hour-long hand-over ceremony, the new cabinet, the 32nd in Israel's 60-year history, posed for its traditional photograph with the president, whose duties are largely ceremonial but who is the official head of state. The Netanyahu government, with as many as 30 ministers and nine deputies, is the largest and most expensive in Israeli history. Sworn in seven weeks after elections, it is the result of tedious coalition negotiations, with Netanyahu, 59, making every effort to avoid a narrow right-wing government. He succeeded last week in convincing the Labour Party to join, when its Convention voted in favor despite strong opposition within the party caucus.
