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Israeli Parliament Elects Rivlin as New President Israeli Parliament Elects Rivlin as New President
(about 4 hours later)
JERUSALEM — The Israeli Parliament on Tuesday elected Reuven Rivlin, 74, a veteran Likud Party politician and former Parliament speaker, as the country’s next president, ending what many here described as an unseemly race for what is largely a ceremonial post. JERUSALEM — The Israeli Parliament on Tuesday elected Reuven Rivlin, 74, a veteran Likud Party politician and former minister and Parliament speaker, as the country’s next president, ending what many here described as the most unseemly race in Israel’s history for what is largely a ceremonial post.
Mr. Rivlin, the scion of an old Jerusalem family who has spent a total of over 20 years in the Knesset, Israel’s Parliament, will replace Shimon Peres, 90, whose seven-year term ends in late July. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has done little to hide his personal differences with Mr. Rivlin, a longtime rival, only recently and begrudgingly endorsed him as his party’s candidate. Mr. Rivlin, the affable scion of an established Jerusalem family who goes by the nickname Ruby, will replace Shimon Peres, 90, whose seven-year term ends in late July.
Mr. Rivlin, a rightist who garnered support from some in the center and on the left because of his reputation as a staunch defender of democratic principles, ran against four other candidates. Failing to gain the 61 votes of the 120-seat Knesset necessary to win in the first round, Mr. Rivlin faced Meir Sheetrit, a veteran centrist politician, in a second round of secret balloting and won by a count of 63 to 53. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, also a Likud member, has done little to hide his personal differences with Mr. Rivlin and only recently and begrudgingly endorsed him for the presidency. Before that, Mr. Netanyahu tried for months to block his candidacy, even examining the possibility of abolishing the presidency.
The presidency has veered between some dramatic highs and lows in recent years. Mr. Peres has been credited with restoring honor to the institution after his predecessor, Moshe Katsav, was forced to resign and began a seven-year prison term in 2011 for rape and other counts of sexual harassment and abuse. Mr. Rivlin, a conservative and veteran of more than 20 years in the Knesset, Israel’s Parliament, garnered support from some in the center and on the left because of his reputation as a staunch defender of democratic principles. Failing to gain the 61 votes of the 120-seat Knesset necessary to win in the first round, Mr. Rivlin faced a centrist, Meir Sheetrit, in a second round of secret balloting and won by a count of 63 to 53.
Mr. Peres lifted the presidency to new levels of popularity and influence because of his special stature at home and abroad. In an address shortly after his victory Mr. Rivlin said he would represent “all the citizens of Israel — Jews, Arabs, Druze, rich, poor, religious and less religious.” His voice cracking with characteristic emotion, he added, “From this moment I am no longer a party man but everybody’s man, a man of all the people.”
Mr. Rivlin, a lawyer by training with little international standing, is likely to bring the office of the presidency back to its previous, more modest proportions. Though most Israeli presidents have been former politicians, the job broadly entails rising above the country’s fractious political scene and offering a unifying voice that bridges national, political and social divides. Because of his special stature at home and abroad, Mr. Peres elevated the presidency to new levels of popularity and influence after several trying years in which his predecessor, Moshe Katsav, was forced to resign and began a seven-year prison term in 2011 for rape and other counts of sexual harassment and abuse.
But Mr. Rivlin’s politics are far from mainstream. He opposed Israel’s unilateral withdrawal from Gaza in 2005 and rejected the idea of territorial partition to make way for an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel. Instead, he has spoken out in favor of a single state with equal rights for all its citizens – though presumably under overall Israeli sovereignty and control. Mr. Rivlin, a lawyer by training with little international standing, is likely to bring the office of the presidency back to its previous, more modest proportions. Though most Israeli presidents have been former politicians, the job broadly entails rising above Israel’s fractious political scene and offering a unifying voice that bridges national, political and social divides.
Though Mr. Rivlin and the other four contenders on Tuesday were all considered respectable candidates, the presidential race was unusual for the large number of candidates and for having turned into a farce involving private detectives and smear campaigns. But Mr. Rivlin’s politics are far from mainstream. He opposed Israel’s unilateral withdrawal from Gaza in 2005 and rejects the idea of territorial partition to make way for an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel. Instead he has spoken out in favor of a single state with equal rights for all its citizens, though presumably under overall Israeli sovereignty and control.
Mr. Rivlin has also refused to recognize Reform Judaism, perhaps fearing a loss of support among the ultra-Orthodox parties. (He ran for president in 2007 and lost to Mr. Peres.)
The race stood out not only for the unusually large field of five candidates but for the smear campaigns and stories of private detectives that often overshadowed the issues.
“It is not a secret that we have lived through some challenging weeks of late,” Yuli-Yoel Edelstein, the current Parliament speaker, told reporters in the Knesset as the voting was underway. Earlier, he said that the election “for the No. 1 citizen” had been stripped “of any dimension of celebration or respect.”
Aside from Mr. Sheetrit, Mr. Rivlin faced competition from Dalia Itzik, another longtime politician; Dan Shechtman, who won a Nobel Prize for chemistry in 2011; and Dalia Dorner, a former Supreme Court judge.
One potential contender, Silvan Shalom of Likud, decided not to run after police investigated allegations of past sexual misconduct. Another, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, the Labor Party’s candidate and a former cabinet minister, dropped out of the race on Saturday after police opened an inquiry into possible financial irregularities.
The suspicions centered on how Mr. Ben-Eliezer had paid for his luxury, sea-view apartment in Jaffa, south of Tel Aviv, prompting the other candidates to disclose their property holdings and how much they cost.
Ben-Dror Yemini, a columnist with Yedioth Ahronoth, ridiculed the spectacle, writing that in future presidential races, “Homeless people will have not a bad start.”