Today (Monday), His Excellency the President of Latvia, Egils Levits, planted a tree in a ceremony held in the Grove of Nations in Jerusalem during his visit to Israel. The ceremony was attended by the entourage of the Latvian President, representatives of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including Israel's Ambassador to Latvia, Sharon Rappaport, and the Deputy World Chairman of Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael – Jewish National Fund, Yair Lootsteen.
President Levits, a lawyer by training, served as Latvia's first Minister of Justice after its independence following the fall of the Soviet Union in 1990. He was Latvia's first Ambassador to Germany, the first Latvian judge at the European Court of Human Rights and the first Latvian judge at the European Court of Justice.
Deputy World Chairman of KKL-JNF, Yair Lootsteen: "President Egils Levits is a close friend of the State of Israel and the Jewish people. We appreciate your decision to visit the country in these tense days and your strong opposition to anti-Semitism and the boycott of Israel. The tree you will plant here today symbolizes the continuation of the close relations between our two countries, and them reaching new heights."