Israeli President Reuven “Ruvi” Rivlin landed in New York Tuesday morning to meet with President Barack Obama in the Oval Office and attend various Jewish events in DC and New York.

Rivlin landed at Newark Airport in New Jersey Tuesday morning. He was welcomed by Rabbi Mendy Carlebach, Chaplain to the Port Authority of NY & NJ Police Department, who served him fresh-baked donuts. The Israeli President then took the Amtrak Northeast Regional train to Washington, DC.

Rivlin will meet with President Obama for the first time since he was elected in 2014, and be present as guest of honor at the traditional White House Chanukah candle lighting on Wednesday. The President will also hold meetings with senior US administration officials, and deliver an address at the Brookings Institute.

“I am leaving now on a visit the United States, the focal point of which will be a meeting with the President. I have always celebrated Chanukah together with my family and grandchildren, but if I must be away, I am pleased that it will be in the USA, alongside our strongest and closest ally,” Rivlin said before his departure. “The friendship between Israel and the United States is an expression of a deep bond. It is the bond between two countries, and between two peoples, and I intend to express to the President, in the name of all the people, Israel’s appreciation for the uncompromising support of the Untied States, in each moment, and in every situation.”

On Friday, Rivlin will be the Guest of Honor at a gathering of Jewish leaders from the Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox movements at the UJA Federations of New York. The event will focus on creating a conversation about the future of world Jewry.

The President will also speak at the Ha’aretz conference in New York City on Sunday, as well as attend the lighting of the eighth candle of Hanukkah with UN Ambassador Danny Danon in the Pierre Hotel.

“These are days of great regional instability and a far from simple security situation in Israel. It is my intention to discuss these challenges with President Obama, alongside the ongoing discussion about the common values which we share – values of freedom and democracy – and I am in no doubt that the array of meetings planned during this visit will serve to further strengthen and deepen the relations between our peoples,” said Rivlin.