Former president Reuven Rivlin exposed the late Queen Elizabeth's opinion on Israelis on Sunday at a London gala to commemorate 100 years of the Technion Institute of Technology.
On Sunday, the former President of Israel said, “The relationship between us and Queen Elizabeth was a little bit difficult, because she believed that every one of us was either a terrorist or a son of a terrorist,” Jewish News reported.
Rivlin elaborated, saying, “She refused to accept any Israeli official into the Palace, apart from international occasions.”
Was King Charles different?
On the contrary, Rivlin described King Charles III as “so friendly.”
The current king has visited Israel twice unofficially to attend the funerals of Shimon Peres and Yitzchak Rabin, as well as once officially in 2020. In her 70-year reign, Queen Elizabeth never visited the country.
Israeli diplomacy and international relationships
While addressing the 300-person audience, Rivlin said, “I hope the new US president will herald a new area in the Middle East. We, alongside the Arabs and Arab nations are not doomed to live together, our destiny is to live together. They cannot kick us out as we have nowhere else to go. So let us all get on and live together in peace.”
Former president Rivlin was honored at the gala as the recipient of the 2024 Churchill Award, presented to him by previous recipient Baroness Ruth Deech.
Israel has been awarded five academic Nobel prizes, four of which are accredited to Technion. Included in these is the 2013 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the advancement of multiscale models for complex chemical systems.
Despite the Institute’s success, its President, Professor Uri Sivan, said, “This has not been an easy year for the Technion. We have been severely hit by the war and its aftermath … we are therefore proud to mark 100 years but are not celebrating.”