President Reuven & First Lady Nechama Rivlin today, Monday, held a festive reception at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem for foreign ambassadors and members of the diplomatic corps serving in Israel, to honor the upcoming festival of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.
President Rivlin welcomed his guests and said, “On this special occasion, it is important for all of us to remember that a true universal order cannot survive without strong nation states”. He stressed, “History has shown us time and time again, that there is no better way for a nation to develop, to defend itself, or to cooperate with other nations than as a sovereign nation state. As I told UN Secretary General Guterres a few weeks ago, international cooperation and national patriotism do not contradict one another. No one understands this better than us Israelis. The State of Israel –where the Jewish nation fulfills its right to self-determination – was established with the strength, of wide international recognition at the UN.”