President Reuven Rivlin spoke at a Foreign Ministry conference today (Sunday), where he addressed Israeli diplomats as they prepare to leave for their posts.
"Israel is today a strong country," he told the audience. "The Israel Defense Forces, and security services know the field of operations well and understand the growing and increasingly complex challenges, while the international arena in which you represent the State of Israel is more complex than ever. The Israeli foreign service as a whole, and you as its most preeminent representatives, make up an essential and central component in the safeguarding of Israel's national resilience."
President Rivlin also spoke about the French statement about negotiations with Palestinians: "In the last few days we have the comments made by the French Foreign Minister relating to an international peace conference. In relation to this I wish to say - it is proper that the dialogue between us and our close allies on all issues relating to the security of Israel and its citizens should be conducted in a direct manner, not above Israel's heads in a conference with many participants."