Israel's Rivlin: Romania, a genuine friend of the Jewish people, Israel in the fight against anti-Semitism

Romania is "a genuine friend of the Jewish people and of Israel in the fight against anti-Semitism," Israeli President Reuven Rivlin told a join plenary sitting of the Romanian Parliament in Bucharest on Wednesday. "Romania is a genuine friend of the Jewish people and of Israel, a Jewish and democratic state, in which all citizens are equal in their rights," he said, according to the official translation. He spoke about the democratic values of his country, and also about the security challenges in the Middle East. "Like any democracy, the state of Israel accepts pointed criticism. We will not be able to accept attempts to undermine and undermine our right to exist through the illicit use of violent means and by exploiting international law, interpreted as if that would allow one to strike Israel," said Rivlin. He underscored that "the Jewish people and the people of Israel, with all their branches, are not in any conflict with Islam." "We have no war with Islam or the Arab peoples of the Middle East or the world. We are indeed fighting the dark forces, which are trying to impose terror and exterminate anyone who opposes them, and especially the State of Israel. The Iranian terrorist regime and its collaborators in Lebanon and Gaza are striving to undermine our very existence, and Israel has a right and a duty, I would say, to defend its citizens, to protect its citizens from nuclear power, rocket attacks, terror threats," said the Israeli president. The Israeli president was on a state visit to Romania at the invitation of Romanian President Klaus Iohannis. He stressed that this is his first visit to Romania as president, late in his term of office. "As a representative of the Knesset, I have been here before, in many places in Romania," said Rivlin. AGERPRES (RO - author: Oana Ghita, editor: Florin Marin; EN - author: Corneliu-Aurelian Colceriu, editor: Cristina Zaharia)