Following are excerpts from Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's remarks this morning at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting:
 
"Today, January 27, the day on which Auschwitz – which is so identified in the world's consciousness with the Holocaust and the annihilation of the Jews – was liberated, the world marks International Holocaust Remembrance Day.  The Knesset will hold a special discussion tomorrow.  Naturally, each of us will be preoccupied with his or her thoughts and with questions that, to this day, have not received answers that it is possible to live with.  Each one of us asks himself what US President George Bush asked when he visited Yad Vashem with us two weeks ago – Why weren't the railways bombed?  Why wasn't existing international strength used to slow the pace of destruction?
 
When we marked Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes Remembrance Day some months ago, very harsh pictures were published of Jewish Holocaust survivors looking in garbage cans for something to eat.  We all felt very bad.  It seems to me that we can note that ours is the first Government in the history of the State of Israel that decided to allocate unprecedented resources so that no Holocaust survivor need worry about an honorable existence.  In recent weeks, as we promised, thousands of Holocaust survivors received significant funds as part of the Government's commitment.  We said that it would be underway by early 2008 and it is.  I thank all ministers who were party to this decision.  Now we may look Holocaust survivors in the eye and say that the Government of Israel has done this minimum for them.
 
Today is also Israel's Day to Combat Anti-Semitism.  We will be briefed by various elements and organizations that are active in the struggle against anti-Semitism around the world.  Unfortunately, anti-Semitism and attacks against Jews continue to spread in various countries."
 
Prime Minister Olmert discussed the aftermath of the recent secondary school teachers strike and noted – inter alia – that the plan to reduce the number of students per classroom is underway.
 
Prime Minister Olmert hailed the Israeli tennis duo of Andy Ram and Yonatan Ehrlich for winning the Men's Doubles at the Australian Open.