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Reuven "Rubi" Rivlin (Hebrew: ראובן ריבלין, [ʁeʔuˈven ʁivˈlin] (
); born 9 September 1939) is an Israeli lawyer and politician currently the president-elect of Israel. He belongs to the Likud party. A former Speaker of the Knesset, he ran in the 2007 election for President as the Likud candidate. He withdrew after the first round of voting when it became clear that Kadima MK Shimon Peres had sufficiently broad support to inevitably win in a run-off.
); born 9 September 1939) is an Israeli lawyer and politician currently the president-elect of Israel. He belongs to the Likud party. A former Speaker of the Knesset, he ran in the 2007 election for President as the Likud candidate. He withdrew after the first round of voting when it became clear that Kadima MK Shimon Peres had sufficiently broad support to inevitably win in a run-off.
On June 10, 2014, he was elected as the tenth President of Israel, defeatingMeir Sheetrit in a run-off.[1]
Early life
Reuven Rivlin was born in Jerusalem. He received an LL.B. from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and worked as a lawyer. He is a descendant of the students of the Vilna Gaon, the son of Yosef Yoel Rivlin and a member of theRivlin family. He is married to Nechama (born June 5, 1945) and has four children. He has been a vegetarian since the late 1960s.[2] Rivlin is well known as a supporter of Beitar Jerusalem, sometimes described as "The-Most-Seasoned-Beitar-fan", ever since he first saw a game of Beitar in 1946 when he was 7 years old.
Political career
He was first elected to the 12th Knesset in 1988, and served as Likud chairman from 1988 to 1993. He lost his seat in the 1992 elections, but returned to the Knesset following the 1996 elections. Reelected in 1999, he was appointedMinister of Communications in March 2001, serving until February 2003, when he was elected Knesset Speaker following the 2003 elections. During his term as speaker, he was criticized for breaking the tradition of political neutrality of the post; he was one of Ariel Sharon's harshest critics regarding the disengagement plan, and had a public confrontation with Aharon Barak, Chief Justice of theSupreme Court, concerning the court's authority to declare legislation illegal.
In June 2010, Rivlin found himself in the center of a controversy after ignoring the advice of a committee that recommended the removal of Balad MK Haneen Zoabi for having participated in the Gaza flotilla earlier that year. His actions were criticized by many MKs and the Israeli right, but Israeli and foreign liberals praised Rivlin for his courage in defending Israeli democracy.[4]
For his first official visit as Knesset Speaker, he chose the Arab-Israeli town of Umm el-Fahm, just south of the Galilee. He was accompanied by MKs Uri Orbach (Jewish Home) and Afu Agbariyah (Hadash), a resident of the city.[5][6]
Citing Pope Benedict XVI's previous service in the Nazi German military service, Rivlin berated the Pope over his address at Israel's Yad Vashem memorial.[7]
On 29 April 2010, he said that he "would rather accept Palestinians as Israeli citizens than divide Israel and the West Bank in a future two-state peace solution".[8]
President
Rivlin was elected as Israel's 10th president on June 10, 2014 receiving the support of 63 MKs in a runoff vote against MKMeir Sheetrit. Rivlin will be sworn in on 24 July replacing Shimon Peres.[9] Upon his election as the 10th president, he immediately ceased being a member of the Israeli Parliament.
References
- ^ Zrahiya, Zvi (2010). "Israel official: Accepting Palestinians into Israel better than two states". Retrieved 12 February 2011.
External links
- Reuven Rivlin on the Knesset website
- Reuven Rivlin on the official Rivlin family website (in English)
- Interview and discussion on YouTube with Leon Charney and Prof Muhammad Muslih on The Leon Charney Report
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Avraham Burg | Speaker of the Knesset 2003–2006 | Succeeded by Dalia Itzik |
| Preceded by Dalia Itzik | Speaker of the Knesset 2009–2013 | Succeeded by Yuli-Yoel Edelstein |
| Preceded by Shimon Peres | President of Israel Elect 2014–present | Incumbent |
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