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In outreach to Arabs, Israeli president visits site of 1956 massacre

Associated Press
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Israel's President Reuven Rivlin meets with Arabs during the annual memorial ceremony for the 47 Arab-Israelis killed by Israeli border policemen on October 29, 1956 in the Arab-Israeli town of Kfar Kassem, central Israel, Sunday, Oct. 26, 2014. Rivlin has visited the site of a 1956 massacre as part of an outreach campaign to the country's Arab minority. Israel's ceremonial president has visited the site of a 1956 massacre as part of an outreach campaign to the country's Arab minority.(AP Photo/Ariel Schalit) (The Associated Press)

Israel's President Reuven Rivlin arrives to the annual memorial ceremony for the 47 Arab-Israelis killed by Israeli border policemen on October 29, 1956 in the Arab-Israeli town of Kfar Kassem, central Israel, Sunday, Oct. 26, 2014. Rivlin has visited the site of a 1956 massacre as part of an outreach campaign to the country's Arab minority. Israel's ceremonial president has visited the site of a 1956 massacre as part of an outreach campaign to the country's Arab minority.(AP Photo/Ariel Schalit) (The Associated Press)

Israel's President Reuven Rivlin speaks during the annual memorial ceremony for the 47 Arab-Israelis killed by Israeli border policemen on October 29, 1956 in the Arab-Israeli town of Kfar Kassem, central Israel, Sunday, Oct. 26, 2014. Rivlin has visited the site of a 1956 massacre as part of an outreach campaign to the country's Arab minority. Israel's ceremonial president has visited the site of a 1956 massacre as part of an outreach campaign to the country's Arab minority.(AP Photo/Ariel Schalit) (The Associated Press)

Israel's ceremonial president has visited the site of a 1956 massacre as part of an outreach campaign to the country's Arab minority.

In visiting Kfar Kassem Sunday, Reuven Rivlin became the first Israeli head of state to attend a memorial ceremony for the 47 Arab civilians shot by Israeli border policemen on the first day of the Israel-Egypt war in 1956.

Rivlin said the massacre was a "sorrowful chapter" in Israeli history, calling it a crime for which Israel has apologized.

In 1956, Israel imposed a nighttime curfew on its Arab citizens because of growing tensions with Egypt. A group of laborers unaware of the curfew returned to Kfar Kassem after a day's work and were shot to death by Israeli border policemen. The troops were later convicted of murder.