Israel’s president to visit the White House

3850

WASHINGTON, June 20, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – Israeli President Reuven Rivlin will
visit the White House June 28 to meet with his US counterpart Joe Biden, the
latter’s spokeswoman said Saturday.

Rivlin, whose term ends July 5, will be the first senior Israeli official
to meet with Biden since he took office in January.

In Israel the post of president is largely ceremonial.

Rivlin accepted an invitation in late May when Secretary of State Antony
Blinken visited Israel as part of a Middle East tour.

The visit comes a month after more than a week of intense clashes between
Israel and the Islamist movement Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip. The
violence claimed the lives of 260 Palestinians and 13 Israelis.

In early June the Israeli Knesset or parliament elected Isaac Herzog, a
former leader of the Labor Party, to succeed Rivlin in early July.