President Barack Obama is about to see and hear first-hand the radical difference between Shimon “Peace” Peres and his predecessor President ReuvenRivlin.
President Rivlin flew out of Ben Gurion Airport early Tuesday. Besides participating in a Hanukkah candle lighting ceremony at the White House and speaking with senior administration officials, he will deliver an address at the Brookings Institute and participate in another candle lighting ceremony with Ambassadors to the United Nations.
Rivlin already is changing the image of Israel as seen by foreign dignitaries. He has visited Hebron, expressed the close links between the Jewish People and Judea and Samaria and has veered 180 degrees from Peres’ sermonizing on the “peace process” at every opportunity.
The president said before boarding the plane this morning:
The friendship between Israel and the United States is an expression of a deep bond. It is the bond between two countries, and between two peoples, and I intend to express to the President, in the name of all the people, Israel’s appreciation for the uncompromising support of the United States, in each moment, and in every situation.
These are days of great regional instability, and a far from simple security situation in Israel. It is my intention to discuss these challenges with President Obama, alongside the ongoing discussion about the common values which we share – values of freedom and democracy – and I am in no doubt that the array of meetings planned during this visit will serve to further strengthen and deepen the relations between our peoples.