BICOM

Reuven Rivlin was elected yesterday to succeed President Shimon Peres and immediately pledged to be “a man of the people.”

119 Knesset members participated in the election. In the first round of voting, Rivlin secured 44 votes, followed by the Hatnuah Party candidate Meir Sheetrit, who surprised many by winning 31 votes. Former MK Dalia Itzik was close behind with 28 votes, followed by former Supreme Court Judge Dalia Dorner with 13 votes, and Nobel Prize laureate Dan Shechtman, one vote. Rivlin and Sheetrit therefore contested a second round of voting with Rivlin eventually winning 63 votes to Sheetrit’s 53.

Rivlin was born on 9 September 1939 in Jerusalem, then part of British Mandatory Palestine and qualified and worked as a lawyer before entering politics. He was elected to the Jerusalem city council, a position he held until 1988. Rivlin closely identifies with the city of his birth and has also served as Chairman of the Beitar Jerusalem Sports Association. Rivlin was elected to the Knesset with the Likud in 1988. He lost his seat in 1992 but regained it in 1996. He subsequently served as Minister of Communications in the government of Ariel Sharon (2001-2003) and as Speaker of the Knesset from 2003-2006 and 2009-2013.

Rivlin personally opposes the two-state solution, but has said he would not intervene in the decisions of Israel’s elected politicians. He is also known as a staunch defender of Israeli democracy, Arab minority rights and the independence of the Knesset. Speaking at a Knesset reception to mark his election, Rivlin addressed “all citizens of Israel, including Jews, Arabs, Druze, the rich, the poor, the more and less observant.” He pledged to “remove the robe of politics” and serve as “a man of everyone. A man of the people.”

The president performs a largely ceremonial role, but is required to invite a party leader to form a government following a general election. Rivlin will officially succeed Peres on 24 July, becoming Israel’s tenth president.