Rivlin accepts credentials of new ambassadors, meets Bundestag speaker

President Reuven Rivlin accepts the credentials of new ambassadors from Cameroon, Guatemala, Germany, Hungary and Japan, and also meets with the speaker of the German Bundestag.

Speaking to Mario Adolfo Bucaro Flores, the new Guatemalan envoy, Rivlin hails the country as “one of Israel’s oldest friends” and notes it was one of the first countries to recognize the Jewish state.

Bucaro mentions that he arrived at the President’s Residence from the Guatemalan embassy in Jerusalem, which along with the US embassy are the only chief diplomatic missions in Israel’s capital.

Meeting the Hungarian ambassador, Rivlin thanks him for Budapest’s support of Israel in the European Union and warns of rising anti-Semitism in Europe.

“We must be clear that there is zero tolerance for anti-Semitism,” Rivlin tells Levente Benko. “We will continue to work together with you to ensure that the Jewish community in Hungary is safe and secure.”

Benko assures Rivlin anti-Semitism won’t be tolerated in Hungary, whose president has faced criticism over his election campaign earlier this year against Jewish billionaire George Soros.

Separately, Rivlin meets Bundestag President Wolfgang Schauble, who calls modern Germany “a kind of a miracle” and says the country was given a “second chance” after Nazi rule.

ברכות חמות והרבה הצלחה לשגרירים החדשים מגואטמלה, גרמניה, הונגריה, יפן וקמרון שהגישו הבוקר את כתבי האמנה שלהם עם כניסתם כשגרירים של מדינותיהם בישראל. אנו מצפים להידוק והרחבה של שיתוף הפעולה בין המדינות! pic.twitter.com/aJT2xIHegY

— ראובן (רובי) ריבלין (@ruvirivlin) October 25, 2018