Rivlin hitches plane ride from Polish counterpart

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin is set to leave on his first official visit abroad on the plane of his Polish counterpart.

Rivlin earlier this week accepted Bronislaw Komorowski’s offer to give him a ride on his plane to the unveiling of the core display of Warsaw’s new Jewish museum on October 28, the Israeli daily Maariv reported Monday.

Rivlin needed the favor because he will attend the opening meeting of the winter session of the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, which is set to take place on October 27. To bring Rivlin to the ceremony in Warsaw on time, the Polish president offered to send his own plane and bring Rivlin and his entourage to Poland.

In Poland, Rivlin is scheduled to meet Polish heads of state and speak in Hebrew before the Polish parliament.

Standing on the historic site of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and facing the Monument of the Warsaw Ghetto Heroes, the Polin Museum of the History of Polish Jews is among the largest Jewish museums in Europe.

The museum cost $110 million to erect and two decades to design, according to organizers. The Polish government financed the 138,000 square-foot building at a cost of more than $60 million, organizers said in a statement.

The remaining funds were raised in donations by the Association of the Jewish Historical Institute of Poland.

The core exhibition’s centerpiece is a replica of the 17th century Gwozdziec Synagogue, featuring an ornately painted ceiling and timber-framed roof.