During brief statements before their meeting, President Rivlin welcomed Minister Gabriel and said, “Welcome to Israel. As a leader who is also a teacher, you know the importance of understanding history. Israel and Germany never had a simple relationship, and we never will. In recent years however, our relationship has become a truly deep and positive one. Only yesterday I hosted the former President of Germany, Joachim Gauck, and today we have the honor to meet with you. During your visit we look forward to discussing ways of developing and expanding our collaboration in all fields – security and counter-terrorism, technology, academia and science, innovation and trade. And especially in an issue very close to your heart, Minister Gabriel, green and renewable energy. We believe that Israel’s knowledge in innovation can contribute greatly in this field.”

Foreign Minister Gabriel thanked the President, and said, “It is a great honor for us to have this opportunity to meet you. We are here very much not just to speak, but to listen to your perspective to your country, on the very special relationship between my country and Israel, and also on the region.”

He noted he had arrived on Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day and said, “We came here yesterday on a very special day. It reminds us of the special relationship and special responsibility not just today but in the future, to a secure and safe Israel, to support the country which is the country of those who survived the Holocaust”, and added, “as a society, for us it is necessary to remember there should always be a special support for the Jewish community.”

He concluded, “We are committed to the friendship, partnership, and special relationship with Israel, and nothing will change that.”

During their meeting, President Rivlin spoke of the current debate surrounding his visit, and stressed that as a democratic state, Israel was familiar with receiving criticism from time to time, but noted that also criticism needed to be based in reality. “Our army is the most moral army in the world,” the President told the Foreign Minister, and added, “it is an army made up of all our children. We know how to maintain our army as the most moral in the world, and we will continue to do so”.

The President, “We know very well the importance of preserving human life, also when we are talking about the lives of citizens of enemy states, and so we reach out our hands, and do all we can to aid the victims of the atrocities just over the border, even when other states who sanctify morality in their words, don’t lift a finger.”

The President spoke with the Foreign Minister about the security cooperation between the two states, and stressed, “Carrying the burden of security which has been forced upon us, stands at the top of our agenda and we intend to continue to do all required to defend the citizens of Israel.”

The President went on to speak on the rise in anti-Semitism, and its toleration in Europe, including in Germany, and as the Foreign Minister had noted in his opening remarks, that German society had a duty to support the Jewish community.