Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

Reuven Rivlin Tells U.S. General: ‘Jerusalem Is Israel’

“I was born in Jerusalem and I am Israeli,” President Reuven Rivlin told Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff during a meeting at his residence.

Rivlin was referring to this week’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling that Americans citizens born in Jerusalem cannot list Israel as their birthplace on their U.S. passports, during his meeting on Wednesday with Dempsey in Jerusalem.

Rivlin is a seventh generation Jerusalemite who was born nine years before Israel became a state.

“Of course we have no criticism of the decision of the Supreme Court in Washington. We salute the rule of law, and we appreciate and understand that they have decided not upon if Jerusalem is part of Israel or not, but who is going to decide upon those matters once it is a matter that goes between the Congress and the administration and the president,” he said, according to the Times of Israel website.

Rivlin thanked Dempsey for his friendship during the meeting. “We are proud to have you as a friend. We salute and appreciate you, and your friendship will be well remembered,” he said according to a statement issued by the president’s office.

During a discussion of the threat posed by Iran and the ongoing civil war in Syria, Rivlin said: “It was commonly thought that the enemy of your enemy was your friend. However, we know that this is no longer necessarily the case. For us it is not a theoretical or hypothetical issue. This is a very real threat to the citizens of Israel – Jews, Muslims, and Christians alike.”

Dempsey said his meetings with security officials in Israel are “necessary for us to face the security challenges that face not only Israel but the United States. You have our deep commitment to continue to build on that relationship, but you don’t have to thank me, this is something we are honored to be part of.”

It is Dempsey’s sixth visit to Israel.

On Tuesday, Dempsey met for the first time with his Israeli counterpart, Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gadi Eisenkot. Israel and the IDF have “no greater friend on the face of the Earth than the United States military,” Dempsey said prior to the meeting, after receiving a badge of appreciation from Eisenkot at a ceremony and honor guard held at IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.