President Reuven Rivlin on Monday spoke to reporters outside the White House, following his meeting with US President Joe Biden.
“I was telling the President of the United States how delighted we are to come once again to the White House. I’ve been here when the President was Vice President and at the time he helped us very much,” said Rivlin.
“We thanked the President for his readiness to help Israel and to help the well-being of all the Israeli people and the security of Israel. We are all together in thinking that we have to cooperate a lot on matters that should be decided by the Americans, by NATO and on events that are happening in the Middle East, and I must say that we found a real great friend to Israel and I’m very much satisfied by his announcement that he’s going to ensure that there will be no nuclear weapons in the Middle East and that he’s going to invite the Prime Minister of Israel in the coming days in order to find a way to cooperate, to exchanges the necessities regarding what is happening in the Middle East and what is happening between us and our neighbors,” he added.
Earlier, at the start of the meeting between Biden and Rivlin, the Presidents made statements to the media. Biden said that “Iran will never get a nuclear weapon on my watch. Israel has the right to defend itself."
Rivlin told President Biden: "Mr. President, I am very happy to be here again. The State of Israel has no braver and closer friend than the United States. The unique ties between our two nations have always been based on our common values, the values of democracy and liberalism. We are partners, friends, our well-being depends on your well-being."
"Friends like us can have disagreements from time to time but these will never jeopardize our close relationship. Our common mission crosses party and political boundaries. Even when the leadership changes, our commitment, nation to nation, remains strong."
"I know that the security of Israel, the well-being of the citizens of Israel, as well as the well-being of American Jews, are very close to your heart, Mr. President. On behalf of the people of Israel, I thank you and the American people for your unconditional support for Israel and for your work for Israel's security."