US President Barack Obama's visit to Israel next week will send a message both to Israel and its neighbors that the US supports and has a partnership with the Jewish state, Israeli envoy to the US Micheal Oren said in an interview with Channel 2 on Saturday.
Oren rejected criticism from
New York Times' columnist Thomas Friedman that Obama was arriving as a "tourist" and not as a player in the peace process, stating that the US president delivering a message of support for Israel was particularly important at a time when "the Middle East is burning."
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console.log("catid body is "+catID);if(catID==120){document.getElementsByClassName("divConnatix")[0].style.display ="none";var script = document.createElement('script'); script.src = 'https://player.anyclip.com/anyclip-widget/lre-widget/prod/v1/src/lre.js'; script.setAttribute('pubname','jpostcom'); script.setAttribute('widgetname','0011r00001lcD1i_12258'); document.getElementsByClassName('divAnyClip')[0].appendChild(script);}else if(catID!=69 && catID!=2){ document.getElementsByClassName("divConnatix")[0].style.display ="none"; var script = document.createElement('script'); script.src = 'https://static.vidazoo.com/basev/vwpt.js'; script.setAttribute('data-widget-id','60fd6becf6393400049e6535'); document.getElementsByClassName('divVidazoo')[0].appendChild(script); }In response to polls finding that a large percentage of Israelis believe Obama is anti-Israel, Oren stated that he does not believe the Israeli public has had a chance to meet the US president up close yet.
"One of the goals of this trip is that they can get to know him," Oren said.
