Israel elects Rivlin as 10th president

JERUSALEM: Israel’s parliament on Tuesday elected Reuven Rivlin, a far-right member of the ruling Likud party, to be the nation’s 10th president when Shimon Peres steps down next month. Known for his affable character and quirky sense of humour, the 74-year-old former parliamentary spea­ker will take over when Peres retires at the end of July, drawing a line under what many regard as a golden age of the presidency. A lawyer by profession, Rivlin has won widespread support from across the political spectrum for his determined defence of democracy and civil rights. But his political outlook is diametrically opposed to that of Peres, being a firm opponent of a Palestinian state and a keen backer of the settlements. And he will have a tough act to follow, with Peres’s charisma and global standing enabling him to transcend the largely ceremonial position of the presidency and use it to promote a political message of peace. Announcing the results of a run-off vote, parliamentary speaker Yuli Edelstein said Rivlin had defeated his centrist challenger Meir Sheetrit by 63 votes to 53 in a secret ballot of the Knesset’s 120 MPs. The other three candidates, former politician Dalia Itzik, retired Supreme Court justice Dalia Dorner and chemistry Nobel Laureate Dan Shechtman were all eliminated in a first round of voting. Published in Dawn, June 11th, 2014