Guatemalan President-elect Alejandro Giammattei on Tuesday concluded a 5 day visit to Israel. Giammattei toured Israel and planted a tree together with KKL-JNF World Chairman Daniel Atar. His visit ended in a dinner in Jerusalem, hosted by the Friends of Zion Museum in Jerusalem, during which KKL-JNF thanked the president-elect for being a brave and relentless friend of the State of Israel.
Attending the Presidential dinner were KKL-JNF World Chairman Daniel Atar, UN envoy Danny Danon, Guatemala’s Ambassador to Israel Mario Bucaro, senior advisor to the US Ambassador to Israel Aryeh Lightstone, KKL-JNF deputy chairmen Zeev Noyman, Ernan Felman and Shlomo Deri.
President-elect Giammattei told his hosts: “We must acknowledge the right of the Jewish people to their homeland, especially after 3500 years of fighting which has made the Jewish into a strong and amazing people. I am amazed by how KKL-JNF have flourished the wilderness and has done so with such love and know-how, Guatemala honors and respects what the Jewish people have done here and our friendship is one that will last.”
Chairman Atar said: “A feeling of friendship and partnership has been a part of our mutual stories throughout the years. Yesterday, after planting a tree together at the newly opened Hula Valley Bird Center at the Hula Valley, we toured together at one of the most beautiful and inspiring places in Israel, home to wildlife and rare birds, and I wish to thank you for your warm and kind friendship with the state of Israel, and especially for your important decision to declare Hezbollah as a terror organization, not allowing its people to operate from Guatemala’s territories.”