President Reuven and Mrs Nechama Rivlin held a state dinner tonight (Monday 26 November 2018) in honor of President Milos Zeman of the Czech Republic and his wife Ivana Zemanova, who are on a state visit to Israel. At the beginning of the dinner, the two presidents made remarks. 

 

President Rivlin began by saying “dear friends of Israel, dear friends of the Czech Republic, it is a pleasure to host you here tonight. Officially, this is a formal dinner. But in many senses we are having a dinner with good old friends, close friends.” 

 

The president mentioned the song sung by Arik Einstein, ‘Prague’, written by Shalom Hanoch and even sang a few words with the guests. He told President Zeman that Einstein, one of Israel’s greatest singers, passed away five years ago today and quoted lines from the song. He continued, saying “we are old friends, Mr. President, but our friendship does not belong to the past. Today, the relationship between Israel and the Czech Republic is a strategic one. With direct flights between Prague and Tel Aviv, and with Skoda’s new innovation center here in Israel, tourism and commerce between the Czech Republic and Israel is on the rise. But we can do so much more together, in business, culture, science, security, energy, tourism, to name just a few areas.” 

 

President Zeman replied with a warm and emotional speech, in which he said: “the table is laid with two glasses of wine, one white and one red. Sometimes, these colors symbolize political differences, but tonight I want to say that there are some issues where left and right agree, including friendship between countries. So, for the first time in my life, I will lift two glasses as a toast.” 

 

Earlier in the day, President Rivlin took part in a special sitting of the Knesset in honor of President Zeman, where the Czech president addressed the Knesset. 

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