(Communicated by the President's Spokesperson)

President Reuven Rivlin, this afternoon (Wednesday, 13 August 2014), at the President's Residence in Jerusalem, met with New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo in the framework of the latter's solidarity visit to Israel and told him at the start of their meeting:

"Well Mr. Governor, I really would like to express my appreciation for your visit to our state in these days, in these very hours, and we appreciate very much the delegation that really gives us the atmosphere of politics in the United States of America, of the unity and the ability of both sides of the political system to be here together, which shows a lot of appreciation and support for Israel. We have a war; actually we don't have war, not with the Palestinians and not with the Islamic world. We have, unfortunately, real troubles with terrorist organizations. We have the duty, not only the right, to protect our people. I really would like to say to you, Mr. Governor, in these very moments, we have a sort of negotiations in Cairo, negotiations that actually go between the Egyptians and the Hamas organization and the head of the Palestinian entity, the representative of Abu Mazen, the president.

We don't know yet whether we will see the end of the hostilities and the end of the fighting in the next few hours. No-one knows, but we are certain that if we are forced into another round of fighting, you will support us and give us what we need to say to the terrorists – there is no way that you will bring down Israel. I would like to take the opportunity of your visit to Israel, and the [state] senators and the Speaker, to convey our deep gratitude to the President of the United States and to the Secretary of State, Mr. Kerry, for their support and their efforts to bring this crisis to an end. In the past they have supported us and we are sure that they will support us in the future because we are on the right side. Thank you so very much Mr. Governor."

New York Governor Cuomo replied:"

"Mr. President, let me say first of all thank you very much for your hospitality and your courtesy. Your entire team has been extraordinary in their courtesy to us and we want to thank you very much. We know you're going through a very difficult time and that's precisely why we are here. This is a somewhat unprecedented delegation from New York. It shows total solidarity, bipartisan solidarity. We have the Speaker of our Assembly. We have the [state] senate leadership in Senators Skelos and Klein. We have representatives of the business community and Mr. Morton Zuckerman from US News & World Report and the [New York] Daily News. So really we want to convey that all of New York stands with you. The United States has always been a strong ally of Israel on many levels. We've felt that especially strong in the State of New York. We have so many connections and so many ties. There are 1.7 million Jews in the State of New York, more than anywhere else besides Israel. Our history goes back a long, long time. We know that these are difficult days and we want to say that we stand with you in solidarity. We understand your need and your right to defend yourself. We understand the attack you are under. Everyone wishes for peace and that's our eternal hope, but we also understand your need to do what is right by your people in defense and we're here to support you in that."