Bush Arrives in Israel
CBNNews.com
January 9, 2008
CBNNews.com - JERUSALEM, Israel - U.S. President George W. Bush received a warm welcome from Israeli dignitaries as he emerged from Air Force One a few minutes before noon Wednesday.
Israeli President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert greeted him first as he stepped onto the red carpet at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion International Airport.
"Mr. President, it's about time I got here," Bush told Peres, referring to the nearly 10 years since his 1998 visit to the Jewish state.
Shaking hands as he walked along to the area set up for welcoming comments, Bush greeted Likud chairman and opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu.
"Are we on for tomorrow morning? We'll get some coffee," Bush said as they shook hands.
Earlier in the day, Richard Jones, U.S. Ambassador to Israel, called Netanyahu's office to set a meeting with Bush for Thursday morning.
According to The Jerusalem Post, Jones said they didn't think Bush's schedule allowed for a meeting with the opposition leader, but they made room at the last minute.
"Given the extent to which the prime minister is willing to endanger the country to survive politically, it is not surprising that the prime minister's office is going out of its way to prevent Bibi from meeting Bush," a senior Likud official said.
"It wouldn't be right if the president wouldn't take the time to listen to someone who represents more than half the people in Israel who oppose the Annapolis process," Netanyahu said earlier.
On hand to welcome Bush was Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of General Staff Gabi Ashkenazi, accompanied by an IDF honor guard and a marching band that played the American and Israeli national anthems.
"We greet you as a great friend," said President Shimon Peres. "We embrace you as the leader of a great nation, which once having secured its freedom never tired of providing it to others."
Sources: YNet news service, The Jerusalem Post
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