During his presidential farewell trip to Washington DC, President Reuven Rivlin spoke about the conflict between Jews and Palestinian Arabs, which began 120 years ago.

“We have to forget once and for all the past. We are not doomed to live together between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean. We are destined to live together. It is our role to bring to an end this conflict,” he said.

Addressing PA President Mahmoud Abbas, Rivlin noted, “The Jewish people have prayed for 2,000 years to return to Jerusalem. Those were our prayers three times a day.”

“We have returned back to our homeland because everyone told use through all the world ‘You have to return to your homeland according to the Bible,'” he added.

He told Abbas that coexistence is the only way forward.

“President Abbas, we are living together. We are not doomed to live together. We can live together. Israel will exist forever as a Jewish state, as long as it will continue to be a democratic one. And I’m sure that both of us can get into the understanding how we can live together and how we should live together.”