Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Monday invited Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora to meet with him and plan together a peaceful solution to the crisis that has gripped the region since the war last summer.

"I want to take this opportunity to call on Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora to meet with me face-to-face," Olmert said in his address to lawmakers at the opening of the Knesset's winter session. He said he hoped for "direct talks to bring peace to our peoples."

The prime minister added to his overture that Israel "has not forgotten, nor shall we forget" the abducted Israel Defense Forces soldiers.

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Olmert's invitation was met with immediate refusal from Siniora, who said Lebanon would be "the last Arab state to sign peace with Israel."

Olmert said in his address that Israel was also interested in establishing peace with Syria, but that, "peace is made only with those who truly shirk terror." Olmert also made reference to the escalating standoff surrounding Iran's nuclear program, saying, "Untrustworthy, unstable regimes are acquiring unconventional weapons."

"The world must ensure that Iran does not have nuclear weapons. The latest events in North Korea manifest the danger," Olmert told the Knesset, adding that he would voice his concern on the matter to Russian Prime Minister Valdimir Putin during his visit to Moscow later this week.

The prime minister also said he was prepared to meet with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas immediately to discuss the future of the road map plan. He said Israel distinguished greatly between the Hamas-led Palestinian government and Abbas, whom he characterized as a "legitimate partner" for negotiations.

Olmert said Israel preferred to see a Palestinian Authority not submerged in humanitarian crisis, and called on the Palestinians to take their future into their own hands, saying "Palestinians alone can change their future."

Turning to the devastation caused in the north of the country by Hezbollah rockets over the course of the war, the prime minister promised to funnel money to assist areas in need of recovery. He also said that the government would make utmost efforts to ensure equal rights be granted to the country's Israeli Arab citizens.

The prime minister opened his address by calling on members of Knesset to work together to make the coming political year one of stability, saying, "let's establish an appropriate and honorable government." Olmert also said he "invites any opposition party to take part in the action and join the coalition."

Olmert's address was interrupted repeatedly by members of Knesset heckling him as he called for unity among lawmakers, leading Knesset Speaker Dahlia Itzik to call for order on a number of occasions.

Likud Chairman and opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu, who took the podium after Olmert, also addressed Iran's controversial nuclear program. "Iran poses a threat to Israel`s existence," he said, calling on the international community to "stop Iran from developing weapons of mass destruction."

Netanyau said that with such an existential threat, the divide in Israeli politics was meaningless, adding "against the Iranian threat there is no opposition and there is no coalition."

Siniora: Lebanon will be last Arab state to make peace with Israel
Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora on Monday dismissed Olmert's call to meet him and make peace, repeating an earlier declaration that Lebanon would be the last Arab state to sign a deal with Israel.

Siniora instead called on Israel to accept an Arab peace initiative floated by Saudi Arabia in 2002, offering peace in return for Israel's withdrawal from Arab land conquered in the 1967 Six Day War.

"The prime minister has announced more than once that Lebanon will be the last Arab country to sign peace with Israel," Siniora's office said in a statement.

"It has become clear that what is required from Israel as proof of its will for peace is the withdrawal from occupied Lebanese territories including the Shaaba Farms and the implementation of [UN Security Council] resolution 1701 in full."

Resolution 1701 ended a 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas in mid-August. Lebanon claims the Shaaba Farms border area as Lebanese but the United Nations says it is Israeli-occupied Syrian soil.