THE JERUSALEM POST: Israel seeks peace with the entire Arab and Muslim world but continues to be threatened by the forces of Islamic extremists, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said several hours before he was sworn in Tuesday evening.
He took the oath of office just before midnight, after the Knesset voted 69-45 to approve the new government.
"These are irregular times," Netanyahu told the Knesset plenum. "Today Israel is faced with two tests - an economic crisis and a security crisis. The source of these crises are neither our past actions nor past mistakes.... Our [current] actions, however, will determine the results of these crises."
Netanyahu was interrupted numerous times by critics of his extra-large government as he presented it and its guidelines to the Knesset. In the past, Netanyahu himself expressed opposition to large governments due to the expense involved.
"It is not with a victor's joy that I stand here today in front of you, but with a great sense of responsibility," Netanyahu began. "I ask for your trust at this time of worldwide crisis of a kind we haven't known before, and it is with a sense of worry, but also with hope and faith, that the State of Israel confronts two major challenges: the economic challenge and the security challenge.
I am certain that the people of Israel will cope successfully with the challenges that lie ahead of it."
Regarding Iranian threats to "erase Israel from the map," Netanyahu criticized the international community for its lack of response.
"The Jewish people has experience with dictators and it cannot overestimate megalomaniac dictators who threaten to destroy it," he said.
The new prime minister added that the worst thing for the State of Israel and the world would be "that a radical regime obtains nuclear weapons."
The threat to Israel came from the spread of extremist Islam in the region and in the world, Netanyahu said.
"I separate extremist Islam from the general Muslim world, which is also threatened by extremist Islam," he told the plenum.
"The Muslim culture is a rich culture that knew times of prosperity, of Arabs and Jews who lived together and created things together." >>> By Shelly Paz and Tovah Lazaroff | Tuesday, March 31, 2009
