Following are excerpts from Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's remarks at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting:

"Last Thursday, 17.7.08, the late Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser were laid to rest.  On behalf of the Government of Israel, I would like to offer condolences to the Regev and Goldwasser families over the loss of the two brave soldiers, who – praise God – received a Jewish burial last Thursday, here, at home.  As you all know, and we did not avoid telling the families themselves and even during the discussions we held on the matter, at a very early stage after the conclusion of fighting in the Second Lebanon War, we indeed assessed that this was the fate of the two soldiers, but it was our supreme moral obligation to do everything in order to act to bring them home and we had no way to act  except on the basis of the assumption that there was a good chance that they were alive because there was no unequivocal knowledge, decisive and absolute proof, that they were not alive.  We thought that if we did not know for certain, our obligation was to act on the basis of the assumption that they were alive and to do everything in order to bring about their return home.  We had discussions here, and in other forums and I know that the issue was, naturally, the subject of public debate, and there are complex and difficult issues connected to such decisions regarding – in the end – the price that the country should pay in such circumstances as we are dealing with.  I think, as I said at the Cabinet meeting that dealt with the issue, that there is a moment when all components and moral factors are considered, as well as the deep commitment that we have to the fate of the soldiers that we send to the battlefield, and our system of values, which is completely different from that of our enemies.  In the end, this system of values, which some might see as weak, is the basis of the moral strength and the deep internal solidarity of Israeli society and it is decisive, even if, sometimes, some might portray this as weakness.  This weakness is the basis of the moral strength of the State of Israel.  I am proud of it.  I think that the entire nation is proud of it.  Even in the deepest moments of sorrow that accompany the funerals of two brave soldiers in the State of Israel, we are entitled to be proud of the fact that we pay heavy prices so that every soldier in the State of Israel and every family in the State of Israel may know that our obligations will never stop, not just so we can have the moral force to give the order to go to battle but also in order to be capable of dealing with the need to bring our soldiers home even if this means to a military cemetery.

Last Wednesday night, after Defense Minister Ehud Barak, IDF Chief-of-Staff Lt.-Gen. Gaby Ashkenazi and I paid our respects to the soldiers and their families, I telephoned the Shalit family and promised, on behalf of all of us, that we would do everything in order to bring Gilad Shalit back home, alive, healthy and whole, with all possible speed.  I do not need to tell you that it will not be simple, and it will not be easy.  As we worked non-stop for two years in order to bring back Udi and Eldad, so we are working for Gilad Shalit.  I believe that Gilad Shalit will return home healthy and whole.  We will not rest, and we will not be silent, until we bring him back home.

Last week, the Prime Minister's Conference on Arab Affairs was held for the first time in the history of the State of Israel.  It dealt with the network of relations with the Arab population within the State of Israel.  The challenges facing us are to ensure that the Arab population in the State of Israel will be an inseparable part of the State in all aspects, with full cooperation with the Arab community's civil leadership and while taking the moral view that we are all citizens of the State of Israel, with equal rights, as we, as Jews, believe that the State of Israel must be run.  Minister Raleb Majdele, the State of Israel's first and only Arab minister, was a full partner in the Conference, and I thank him for his cooperation.  A series of ministers briefed participants on issues in their fields, including Interior Minister Meir Shetrit, who is responsible for several matters related to the Arab community.  Today, Minister Shetrit will present the plan and ask for the Government's consent to establish a staff to deal with the establishment of an Arab city in the north.  I think that this decision will be a very significant and important milestone in advancing the network of relations within the State of Israel between Jews and Arabs."

Prime Minister Olmert also said that the Cabinet would discuss the issue of higher education in Israel in the wake of the recent Shohat report.