Photo : Japan Ambassador HE Mr Shigeo Matsutomi, the President Rivlin  and Mrs Talya Lador-Fresher Israeli Chief of State Protocol

For the first time in his presidency, the Israeli president Reuven Rivlin , received letters of credence from new ambassadors appointed by Georgian, Lithuanian, Japan and Swaziland governments.

Receiving the letters of credence from the ambassadors, President Rivlin said:"friendship is not being measured by governments, but by the ties between peoples, and to us is important to establish close relations with your countries".

New ambassadors from Georgia, Lithuania, Japan and Swaziland, presented their letters of credence, to President Reuven Rivlin, as appointed by their governments, during a official ceremony held in the presidential residence in Jerusalem.

At their meetings with the President, the ambassadors expressed their hope, to tighten up the relationships and cooperation between their countries and Israel.

  Photo The Georgian Ambassador H.E. Mr. Paata Kalandadze and family with the President Rivlin.

The Georgian ambassador expressed his gratitude to President Rivlin, saying: "I'm honored to represent my country here in Israel. Good relations between our countries will have an impact on stability and peace in the whole world".

The President answered warmly: "I welcome your return to Israel, this time as an ambassador of Georgia. Israel and Georgia have good relationship along the history..."

 Photo  The President Rivlin, Mrs Talya Lador-Fresher and the Lithuanian ambassador

Presenting his letter of credence, the Lithuanian ambassador said to the President:

"I'm very exited to be here, in Jerusalem. I promise you to do my best, in order to preserve Your positive memories that You have of Lithuania. There are tragic memories between us in our history, especially The Holocaust. Our priority is to promote education programs and signing agreements that will preserve the memories of The Holocaust for generations to come.
We promote high tech conventions, cyber technology, and share it with the Israelis..."

President Rivlin said: "the history of our Nation lasts along hundreds of years, the Jewish- Lithuanian community is very large. We learn from your Prime minister, that we have to learn from the past and to look at the future.

The ambassador of Japan, expressing his gratitude to the President, said:"I thank you for the warm and caring hospitality. I can feel the sympathy in Israel, for the Japanese nation...","in Japan, many believe that Japan and Israel have much in common, like the believe that it's important to a nation to invest in its people, in friendship and cooperation..."

The President to ambassador of Japan: "it's an honor for me, you are a ambassador of a important nation. We have much in common – we have a long history, deep and ancient culture.
We appreciate you and know that we can find friendship with you and listen to your advise..."

"...it's an honor for me to receive you, and I hope that you will have a pleasant stay in Israel".

 Photo : The ambassador of Swaziland H.E. Mr. Promise Msibi and wife and the President Rivlin

The ambassador of Swaziland, presenting his letter of credence, said: "I wish to thank you for the opportunity to present my letter of credence here in Israel. The king of Swaziland wishes to congratulate you as a new elected President of Israel. We hope that during your presidency we can continue our good relations. My King expressed also his sorrow for the loss of lives that Israel have suffered as a result of fighting terror groups. Israel have the right to defend itself at any cost and we hope that the world will soon be free of terror groups in the nearest future. My king and my people remember well your support, given to the government of Swaziland in varies matters, and we hope to strengthen our relations in the future.

The President responded, saying: "I wish to congratulate you for celebrating your independence day. We appreciate your people, the relationship between us that era strong today as they were before, and we hope to strengthen them in the future as well. We will not forget you staying with us as ambassadors, even during the war".

Here the names of the ambassadors:

The ambassador of Georgia H.E. MR. PAATA KALANDADZE
The ambassador of Lithuania H.E. MR. EDMINAS BAGDONAS 
The ambassador of Japan H.E. MR. SHIGEO MATSUTOMI
The ambassador of Swaziland H.E. MR. PROMISE MSIBI 

 Photos Mark Neumann/ GPO