Israel’s president to visit the White House
Outgoing Israeli President Reuvin Rivlin (C) is flanked by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett (L) and alternate Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid during a photo with the new coalition government, at the President’s residence in Jerusalem, on June 14, 2021. AFP
WASHINGTON — 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.
