Rivlin wraps up trip to Romania with memorial for 2010 IDF helicopter crash

President Reuven Rivlin is wrapping up his visit to Romania and will return to Israel this evening following one of his final overseas trips while in office.

Before leaving the country, Rivlin participates in an official memorial ceremony for the seven people who died in a helicopter crash during an IDF training session in Romania in 2010. He is accompanied by an IDF delegation as well as representatives from the bereaved families.

“Eleven years have gone by since this horrible tragedy,” he says at the ceremony. “Eleven years of pain and longing… there is no comfort. The best way to remember and to honor the heroes that fell is to walk in their path. To connect to their love of homeland and to be there for your family members.”

Rivlin also thanks the Romanian government for its ongoing security cooperation with the Jewish state. “The bilateral cooperation between Romania and Israel is incredibly important, it is important to the regional security of Israel,” Rivlin said. “I thank the government of Romania and the Romanian Air Force for this incredibly important activity.”