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

"This is the 146th and final meeting of the 31st Government.  We expect that the new Government, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, will be presented to the Knesset this week and this Government's role will end.  I very much hope that the new Government will continue to act on the important and central issues that this Government has dealt with and will – according to its path and its vision – will take up other issues.  In light of the concept of continuity of rule, there will certainly be many items that the new Government will continue to deal with, just as this Government, which is ending its term, dealt with the issues that its predecessors did.  In the end, I have no doubt that Benjamin Netanyahu's new Government will do its utmost in order to realize the State of Israel's dream to live in peace and security, with quality of life and in an atmosphere  of joy and satisfaction, the dream that every Government has hoped for, acted on behalf of and done its utmost to realize.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those involved in the functioning of the Government, to the employees at all Government offices, to administrators at all levels.  We are always naturally inclined to thank the senior staff, but we all very well know the government is complex and that a democratic government consists of tens of thousands of people, all of whom come in the morning, work hard, receive salaries – which are usually not very high – and do their work reputably, faithfully, with care and reliability, and especially with love for this country.  I take the opportunity of this Government's last Cabinet meeting to thank all these thousands of Government officials and to say that these are people that the State of Israel and Government of Israel are proud of.

I will yet say things in this week's Knesset meetings, directly to Benjamin Netanyahu, who will sit in this chair next week.  Today I can only tell him one thing.  Benjamin Netanyahu was the one who told me after I was appointed to my position, in the first meeting which we held in the Prime Minister's Residence, he told me at the end of the meeting, "This is a tough job."  I now know this.  He has an advantage upon entering the post now for the second time, that he knows this from the first time.

I wish that he succeeds in the job and that he will lead the Government of Israel, and I have no doubt that he will lead the country to achievements and will lead it towards fulfilling its dreams, which are the dreams of us all.

I thank you very much.  We should have a good week that will also portend a good beginning for the Government of Israel."