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With folksy charm, ‘Ruvi’ confronts Israel vote deadlock
JERUSALEM, Oct 22, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – With his easy smile and grandfatherly
demeanour, Reuven Rivlin can seem a perfect fit for the mainly ceremonial
role of Israeli president, but his job has suddenly turned more challenging.
The 80-year-old has found himself involved in efforts to extricate the
country from political deadlock following a September 17 election.
Those polls, the second since April, left neither Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu nor his challenger Benny Gantz with a clear path to a majority
coalition.
Netanyahu informed Rivlin on Monday he cannot form a government, and the
president now plans to ask Gantz to try.
Gantz too will face long odds, and Rivlin, a popular ex-speaker of
parliament nicknamed “Ruvi”, has made clear he will do everything in his
power to prevent a third election.
He will have to do so while managing an uneasy relationship with Netanyahu,
whom Rivlin has known since the prime minister was a young child.
“There are some moments in the life of a people when the president is
required, as part of carrying out his official role, to intervene,” Rivlin
said at parliament’s October 3 swearing in.
“To guide and calibrate the system which is struggling to get back on
track.”
Rivlin has set out a compromise that could see Netanyahu become premier
first in a rotation, but step aside later to combat corruption charges if
indicted as expected.
His efforts have so far failed, and the former lawyer with long experience
in Israeli politics may have to employ all his folksy charm to resolve the
stalemate.
“Despite everything that was said about their outright hostility, Rivlin
behaved as a true gentleman by proposing an agreement acceptable by the two
parties,” Denis Charbit, political science professor at the Open University
of Israel, said of the president’s relationship with Netanyahu.
Rivlin cites a similar stalemate in 1984 that led to a unity government as
precedent.
Charbit and others, however, say it is the first time an Israeli president
faces a situation as seemingly intractable as this one.
– Football fan –
Rivlin was born in Jerusalem under what was then British-mandate Palestine
and speaks Arabic in addition to Hebrew.
His academic father is considered to have authored the first Hebrew edition
of the Koran.
The scion of a prominent family, Rivlin served as an intelligence officer
in Israel’s military.
He has been a vegetarian for many years for reasons of conscience.
The portly and bespectacled father of four is known for his love of
football and was once chairman of the Israeli club Beitar Jerusalem.
He made his way into politics as a follower of the right-wing ideology of
Zeev Jabotinsky, whose thinking formed the basis of Israel’s Likud party.
He first won a seat in the Knesset, or parliament, in 1988 with Likud.
Years later, he held the post of speaker twice — from 2003 to 2006, and
again from 2009 to 2013.
He won widespread respect as speaker, but also clashed with Netanyahu.
Rivlin’s ultimately successful bid for the presidency in 2014 was
complicated by a bitter spat with Netanyahu, who sought an alternative
candidate.
A number of commentators said Netanyahu’s loathing of Rivlin was due to
his refusal to bend to his will.
– ‘Rivlin’s duty’ –
Rivlin is unmistakably right-wing and has made no secret of his vision of a
Greater Israel encompassing all territory between the Jordan River and the
Mediterranean — ruling out the creation of a Palestinian state.
In recent years, he has appeared to ease his stance somewhat, speaking of
a confederation between Israel and the Palestinians.
He has built a reputation within Israel’s turbulent political scene as a
voice of reason with a quirky sense of humour, winning him plaudits and
respect. In June, the death of his wife of nearly five decades led to an
outpouring of support — and a call from Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.
He has been careful to avoid politics since becoming president, though he has
occasionally let frustration with some of Netanyahu’s policies and comments
show.
Rivlin has signalled strong disagreement with rhetoric from Netanyahu many
see as demonising Arab Israelis, who make up around 20 percent of the Jewish
state’s population.
With Netanyahu facing possible corruption charges in the weeks ahead, some
predict his days as prime minister could be numbered, but Rivlin has moved
carefully.
“Rivlin’s duty is to end the Netanyahu era with as little national trauma
as possible,” journalist and author Anshel Pfeffer wrote in Israel’s Haaretz
newspaper.
BSS/AFP/RY/1708 hrs