Olmert greeted with flowers, protests at northern schools

"I am proud to be prime minister in a time when education in Israel returns to the top of the world," he told the students. He appeared relaxed and smiled a lot as he was greeted by a choir of students.

Later, at an Arab school in Nazareth, he was greeted by a group of demonstrators who called him "a persona non grata."

Olmert arrived at the Ksulot school in Nazareth Illit accompanied by Finance Minister Ronnie Bar-On and Education Minister Yuli Tamir. 

As he entered one of the first grades, one of the pupils asked him, "Are you from television?" The prime minister replied, "No, I'm from the government. Sometimes we also work on TV."

Asked by reporters to say a few words to Israel's students, Olmert stated, "I am very excited. None of us can forget their first day in the first grade. My first day was more than 50 years ago, and I remember it as if it was today. I wish these children will grow up into a state with fewer problems, more happiness and more hope.

"These students arrive more prepared than we were, with a greater background than we had. They receive a higher level of education and are familiar with things which we were not familiar with. They have a much broader perspective than we had, and much more has been invested in our education system than in the past."

"The education minister has worked very hard for a reform which will provide an opportunity which we never had before. Education is really at the top of our priorities. The NIS 30 billion (about $8.3 billion) budget is something which we never had before," he said.

In Nazareth, dozens of residents staged a demonstration near the school visited by the prime minister. "We view Olmert as a criminal," said one of the parents, Abu Wassel Kadri. "He is a corrupt person being interrogated by the police. What kind of message will he convey to our children?

"For years he was a Beitar Jerusalem (football club) fan, surrounded by dozens of fans yelling, 'Death to the Arabs.' As far as we are concerned, he is a persona non grata here."

Protestors in Nazareth (Photo: Hagai Aharon)

Balad secretary, Wael Omri, one of the protest's organizers, said that Olmert "is a war criminal who has done terrible things to the Arab sector. Why has he suddenly remembered us ahead of the end of his tenure? It's a shame that the mayor chose to welcome him."

Nazareth Mayor Ramiz Jaraisy, on his part, issued a statement Monday morning, saying that the visit was held as per the request of the prime minister and education minister, "and thus it would have been wrong to refuse. On the contrary, we accepted it in order to take advantage of the opportunity and present the prime minister with the city's distress and the distress of the Arab sector."

Peres: We want you to be smart

Nearly 1.5 million students and 130,000 educators went back to school Monday at more than 4,000 educational institutions nationwide.

President Shimon Peres began his day at the Efrata religious school in the capital, accompanied by Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski, and joined the students at the road safety gaurds.

Peres and Lupolianski went on to visit the Safafa school in east Jerusalem.

Ronen Medzini contributed to this report