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Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his fellow ministers today paid tribute to previous Israeli governments, with the publication of the book “The Government – 60 Years”, which chronicles the 31 governments that have served since the State of Israel was founded.
The publication of the book was initiated by Cabinet Secretary Oved Yehezkel, who thus sought to relate the legacy of past governments and to pay tribute to the ministers who served in them. With the assistance of Minister Ruhama Avraham-Balila, who is responsible for the events commemorating the country’s 60th anniversary, the book was issued and distributed today to former ministers and their family members.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said: “As we look at the State of Israel in 2008, as we consider what we have achieved, when we know what we have contended with, when we remember that ours is the only country in the world that – since its first day – has been under an uninterrupted existential threat from somebody, when we remember what upheavals we have undergone and what an astounding society we have built, when we see where the State of Israel has gone – we know that all Israeli governments, without exception, built those layers that have led us to the great day on which the State of Israel can celebrate 60 years of its existence with a greater sense of security than we ever had. I would like to thank all former ministers who have honored us with their presence. I am moved because I see people here today, friends who were already in the Knesset when I came to it in 1973. I see people who could all tell about that one special, unique and dramatic moment when they joined the Government as a minister, and became part of the cumulative national ethos of 60 years of the State of Israel. It could be that many of you have such moments that are not part of the collective, public knowledge but you are familiar with them and know them, and you are proud of them and I am proud of you.”
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