Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin speaks to reporters following his meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House in Washington, U.S. June 28, 2021. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

i24 News – Israeli President Reuven Rivlin on Tuesday appealed to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“We are not condemned to live together, we are destined to live together,” Rivlin said before various United Nations ambassadors at UN headquarters in New York as the outgoing head of state continues his farewell tour of the United States.

“It is up to us to end the conflict. Let us forget the past. Let us build confidence. There are possibilities to ensure a bright future for our people,” he insisted.

Rivlin also spoke out against resolutions and commissions of inquiry launched against Israel at the UN, during a meeting with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

“Our Middle East region needs to build trust among peoples. Peace between Israel and the Palestinians will never be achieved through anti-Israel decisions or commissions of inquiry,” he said, according to a statement from his office.

“The bias against Israel in the UN institutions must end,” Rivlin emphasized.

“We wish to continue working with the UN to meet the humanitarian needs of the people of Gaza, with whom we have no conflict,” Rivlin said.

“However, any arrangement must include the return of our soldiers and civilians detained by the terrorist organization Hamas,” the president stressed, referring to the bodies of two IDF soldiers killed in action, Lt. Hadar Goldin and St.-Sgt. Oron Shaul, held by Hamas since the Gaza war in 2014.

Two Israelis — Avraham Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed — who allegedly entered Gaza of their own accord in 2014 and 2015, are also being held by the Islamist terrorist group.