Biden to host Israel’s president at end of June

Biden to host Israel’s president at end of June

Reuven Rivlin will be the first senior Israeli official to meet the US president since he took office.

Reuven Rivlin, whose term ends July 5, accepted the invitation in May when US secretary of state visited Israel. (AP pic)
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.

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