Image by Getty Images

“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.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

“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.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

2X match on all Passover gifts!

$90 → $180 $180 → $360

$360 → $720

Other amount