President Reuven Rivlin met with a bipartisan delegation of members of the United States Congress on Wednesday afternoon, headed by Rep. Michael Turner (R-OH), Chairman of the House of Representatives Subcommittee on Tactical Air Land Forces. 

The delegation also included Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-CA), Ranking Democratic Member on the Subcommittee on Strategic Forces; Rep. Paul Cook (R-CA), Vice Chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Tactical Air Forces; and several members of other committees.

The President thanked the delegation for their work and welcomed them to Jerusalem.  

“We are sitting here in Jerusalem, but our thoughts are focused on what is happening in Lausanne,” Rivlin said, referring to the negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program. “There is yet to be a clear picture of what is happening there, and reports are contradicting, but we are of course greatly concerned by the possibility that Iran would achieve nuclear capabilities.”  

“A nuclear Iran is not only a threat to Israel, naturally we are worried as they call from the podium of the United Nations for Israel’s end,” he continued. “Despite this, I have no doubt that under the leadership of the American President, members of Congress and the Senate, it is possible to stop every evil in the world.”

“We used to say that the enemy of your enemy is your friend,” Rivlin concluded.  “But that is not the case in our region today.  We must remember who is our ally, and who is our foe.  Iran stills poses a threat to world security.”

Rep. Michael Turner, who led the delegation, thanked the President for his warm hospitality.  

“This is my tenth visit to Israel, my first visit was in the mid-1990s and there is no doubt the Middle East has changed greatly since then,” Turner noted. “We are here today as a bipartisan delegation.”

“We have worked, and continue to work, on the joint cooperation with Israel on the important issue of missile defense, including US support for Iron Dome,” he continued. “It has been very inspiring to see both the accomplishments and advancements that Israel has made, and how they have been applied to what is an increasing threat around the world.”

“I appreciate your concern with regard to Iran, which also poses a threat to the United States, as they seek not only to gain weapons of mass-destruction, but also missile capabilities which threaten the United States,” Turner added.