President Reuven Rivlin made an unorthodox visit to Kafr Kassem on Sunday where he participated in a memorial service for 49 Arab-Israeli villagers murdered by Israeli police in 1956.
While Israel has acknowledged the massacre and paid compensation to the family, it is rare for a senior Jewish politician to take part in the event. Since his inauguration, Mr Rivlin has been trying to build ties between Israelis and Arabs.
The president said that all Israelis "must look straightly at what happened here and teach the next generations". His predecessor, Shimon Peres, visited the town in 2007 and apologised for the massacre.
