US President Barack Obama won’t land in Israel for another two days, but dozens of Israelis have already filmed themselves hanging out with a grinning, albeit stiff-looking, POTUS.

The United States Embassy in Tel Aviv released a video clip Monday ahead of the historic visit, showing Israelis welcoming the president, many with a cardboard cutout of him.

In addition to personal video clips that people made at home, embassy staff also patrolled the streets armed with a life-size cardboard cutout of the president so that locals could get up close and personal while giving a big “welcome” in a multitude of languages.

The clip was posted on Youtube and quickly began to gain an audience.

Earlier this month the embassy said that over 1,600 people had submitted entries to a slogan competition on its Facebook page that offered as prizes 20 tickets to hear Obama speak later this week at the International Convention Center Jerusalem.