BRUSSELS — European leaders had high hopes for Israeli President Reuven Rivlin’s June 20-23 visit to Brussels, and none of them tried to hide it. Almost all of the meetings stretched longer than scheduled, and the welcoming phrases were always warm and personal. ''I know that today we have here not only the president of Israel, but also our good friend — and our discussions today showed that it is true,'' said European Council President Donald Tusk after his encounter with Rivlin.

Indeed, the scope of Rivlin's visit was practically unprecedented. Crisscrossing the Belgian capital, Rivlin met successively with Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, Belgian King Philippe, President of the European Council Donald Tusk, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker, and the EU High Commissioner for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini. In between, Rivlin was also welcomed at the European Parliament, where he gave an address in Hebrew.

Israeli diplomats noted that even former President Shimon Peres on a formal visit in 2013 was not served with all those European dignitaries. The almost parallel arrival in town of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (who landed on June 22), only amplified the visit's visibility here. But was all this commotion justified?

Rivlin is considered by many in Europe as the last politically sane voice within the Israeli right-wing camp — or at least as the only liberal, open-minded, right-wing senior public figure with some internal political clout. Not only has Europe lost any confidence in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his associates, it's starting to lose patience with the Israeli diplomatic machine as well.