President Reuven Rivlin on Tuesday evening 4 Shevat spoke by telephone with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.

During their extended and warm conversation, President Rivlin said, “I am very happy for the opportunity to speak with you. It is a very important conversation for us. Mexico and Israel have warm and good ties and we see this in our close cooperation in many fields.” The President stressed these strong ties were not just between states but between the peoples and between leaders who hold each other in great esteem.

The President thanked President Pena Nieto for attending the funeral of Israel’s ninth President, Shimon Peres, in September 2016, and added that he was looking forward to seeing President Pena Nieto Israel again on his planned state visit during the coming year.

President Rivlin spoke of the close connection between the State of Israel and the Jewish community in Mexico and said, “This wonderful community plays an important role in Mexican society and economy, and serves as a bridge between our two countries.”

In relation to the current situation, the President sought to convey, “The security situation in Israel, and the entire Middle East, brought us to the important decision to build a fence on our [southern] border. We have no intention of comparing the security situation in the State of Israel, and the steps forced upon us, to the situation of any of our friends around the world.”

The President stressed, “I am sure that nobody intended to compare between the situation of Israel, and the situation of Mexico – rather this was a misunderstanding. The ties between us are so very strong and important, and we must leave behind us any such misunderstanding. We share so much cooperation and I have no doubt that the future will only bring the strengthening of these ties. I am sorry for any hurt caused as a result of this misunderstanding, but we must remember that we are talking about a misunderstanding, and I am sure that we can put the issue behind us.”

President Pena Nieto thanked President Rivlin for his willingness to find a solution to the situation and said, “I want to tell you very clearly Mr. President, that Mexico has always been willing to have a very close relationship with your country. I do want to tell you that Mexico is more than willing to maintain this mutual cooperation. Unfortunately, this cooperation has been hurt because of this tweet.”

He added that he was aware of the explanation given for the tweet, but said that its interpretation was inevitable. He said, “This of course obviously generated various reactions in Mexico, I am certain that you are aware of these reactions.” He added that Mexico had called for a public clarification on the issue.

President Pena Nieto stressed, “Mr. President, You can rest assured that Mexico wants to continue being a good friend of Israel.” He concluded that he hoped the conversation between the two presidents, and the clarifications given, would help the two countries to continue their important relationship, and said he would convey this message to the Mexican people.

The “tweet” referred to is one released by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu expressing support for US President Trump’s plans to build a wall between Mexico and the US over the objections of Mexico.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)