Hosting US President Donald Trump, President Reuven Rivlin calls for “new ideas” to advance the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
“Our destiny — Palestinians and Jews — is to live together in this land, Mr. President. We must build trust and cooperation between us,” Rivlin says at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem, the first stop of Trump’s two-day visit. “But in order to achieve this we need new ideas, new energy, that will help us move forward, together.”
If Arabs and Israelis reach a peace agreement, the region could become an “oasis, an international center of tourism, a startup land, Silicon Valley from the Jordan to the Mediterranean,” Rivlin adds. “But we must be sure that we don’t go to sleep with a dream and wake up with a nightmare: With Iran, ISIS and Hamas on our borders. In order to dream, we need to be sure that Iran is out; out of our borders, out of Syria, out of Lebanon.”
Rivlin thanks his American counterpart for his willingness to advance Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Says Rivlin: “We want to move forward, Mr. President, and we must do it, together, together with America.”
President Reuven Rivlin delivers a statement alongside his American counterpart, Donald Trump, at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem on May 22, 2017 (screen capture: GPO)
— Raphael Ahren
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