Outspoken Reuven Rivlin Elected as Israel’s President

Former Speaker of the Israeli Knesset Reuven Rivlin was elected president of Israel on Tuesday, June 10, after a runoff election inside the national legislature, beating out rival Meir Sheetrit 63 votes to 53. The 74-year-old Likud member will begin his seven-year term in July when current President Shimon Peres leaves the post.

Generally, the presidential office of Israel maintains a largely ceremonial role, meeting foreign dignitaries on behalf of the citizenry of Israel. The president is asked to refrain from any intrusion into the domestic politics of the nation, as well as to not express personal issues that would divide the public.

In an interview with the Times of Israel before he was elected, Rivlin promised he would not seek to intervene in the decisions of the country’s elected politicians on peacemaking or other issues. However, if his time in government is anything to go by, Rivlin will have trouble staying quiet.

A long-time right-wing politician, Rivlin is renowned for acting independently on national issues, even if he has to part ways with his party’s leadership. For example, the Likud member readily denounces the plan for a two-state solution, instead calling for one Israeli state where Arabs are given full and equal rights.

Also, in contrast to the current president of Israel who visited the Vatican on Sunday for a prayer meeting with Pope Francis and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, Rivlin has not been afraid to speak up against the papacy’s own peace exploits.

In 2009, while speaker of the Knesset, Rivlin refused to welcome Pope Benedict xvi at the Tel Aviv Airport because he “needed to act according to his conscience.” In an interview with Spiegel Online at the time, Rivlin spoke out against the papacy for not doing enough to stop the spread of Holocaust denial.

He stated,

In order to do away with Holocaust denial, not only for the sake of the Jewish people but for the sake of the world, we are asking the pope to show us the Vatican’s archive, which proves that the Shoah [Holocaust] happened and that, to our dismay, the Holy See under Pope Pius xii stood in silence—not only sweeping the facts underneath the carpet, but also to a great extent, through his silence, giving legitimacy to the Shoah.

As the Vatican desires to get more involved in the Middle East peace process, it’s easy to see how the outspoken Reuven Rivlin inhabiting the presidential palace might hinder its progress.

The new president will be sworn in on July 24.