By Itzhak Rabihiya
Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin joined hundreds of other guests Tuesday night at an event held at the Jerusalem International Convention Center, hosted by U.S. Ambassador David Friedman and his wife Tammy marking America’s 243rd Independence Day.
As he arrived at the event, held for the first time in Jerusalem, the president raised a glass with the ambassador and his aides in honor of the United States, President Trump and the American people. The president and the ambassador discussed the importance of the relations between the two countries and the deep friendship between the peoples, based on broad bi-partisan support and shared values.
The prime minister pointed out during remarks he delivered at the event that it is a pleasure to have the “greatest power on earth” standing on the same side as Israel, rather than opposing our ideals.
The United States Embassy’s annual July 4th reception will be held for the first time this year in Israel’s capital: Jerusalem.
For years the reception, attended by hundreds of government officials, diplomats and business people, was held at the home of the US ambassador in Herzliya. Last year, some two months after the US moved its embassy to Jerusalem and eight months after US President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, the event was held in Airport City near Ben-Gurion Airport.
Invitations sent out on Friday, however, announced that this year the event marking the US’s 243rd Independence Day will be held on Tuesday, July 2, at the International Convention Center in Jerusalem.
This comes following the relocation of the embassy to the former US consulate in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Arnona; the merger of the historic Jerusalem consulate offices on Agron Street into the embassy, and the establishment of a Palestinian Affairs Unit instead of using the Jerusalem consulate as an informal embassy to the Palestinians; and turning the consulate-general’s residence at the site into the ambassadorial residence.
While this will be the first time that the US Embassy holds the US Independence Day celebration in Jerusalem, it is not the first time that a world power will mark its national day in Israel’s capital.
Last year, Russia, which nine months before Trump’s recognition announcement in 2017 recognized west Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, held its annual Russia Day reception at the Sergei Courtyard in the city.
This year, however, that reception – to be held on June 13 – will be held at the Dan Accadia Hotel in Herzliya.
Attached photo credit: Mark Neiman (GPO)
