Israel envoy attends White House dinner celebrating Ramadan

Michael Oren, Israel's ambassador to the United States, attended a White House dinner on Tuesday celebrating the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

U.S. President Barack Obama also welcomed American Muslim community leaders to the event in the State Dining Room.

Obama joined Cabinet secretaries, ambassadors and members of Congress to pay tribute to what he called "a great religion and its commitment to justice and progress."

"We honor the contributions of America's Muslims, and the positive example that so many of them set through their own lives," Obama continued, "and we rededicate ourselves to the work of building a better and more hopeful world."

Obama also said that Islam is part of America and that the American Muslim community is diverse, like the broader citizenry of the United States.

Ramadan, a month-long period of prayer, reflection and sunrise-to-sunset fasts, began Aug. 22 in most of the Islamic world.