Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert Sunday urged center-right Likud party leader Benjamin Netanyahu to form a coalition government fast, local daily Ha'aretz reported on its website.

The founding of the coalition government is "the infrastructure through which the State of Israel will operate in the coming years," Olmert was quoted as saying at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting.

The outgoing prime minister called on Knesset (parliament) factions to mount coalition negotiations as efficiently and quickly as possible, making it clear that "until the formation of a new government, the current Israeli government will continue to run the State's affairs without relinquishing one gram of responsibility."

Olmert also praised Israeli President Shimon Peres' decision to task Netanyahu with forming the new government, saying that Israel needs a strong and stable government in order to contend with the challenges it faces.

Netanyahu, the prime minister-designate, is expected to meet Sunday afternoon with Kadima chairwoman Tzipi Livni in order to convince her to join his government as a senior partner which will be able to influence its basic guidelines and policies.

Livni, also Israeli foreign minister, has reiterated that she plans to take her party to the opposition, but senior Kadima members have begun to voice other opinions recently.

On Friday, Peres officially entrusted Netanyahu with the task of building a coalition, ten days after the parliamentary election.

Netanyahu, upon accepting the mission, called on Livni and the leader of Labor party Ehud Barak to work with him, adding "I urge all Knesset factions to join me in coalition."

Netanyahu, who was previously the 9th prime minister of Israel from June 1996 to July 1999, would then have 42 days to forge a coalition cabinet. Until the new government is formed, Olmert, who was forced to resign amid a corruption scandal, will remain in office as caretaker prime minister.

Source:Xinhua