Israel’s next president

After what many described as the dirtiest campaigning period in the country’s political history, Israel selected a new president on Sunday, choosing veteran right-winger Reuven Rivlin.

The decision heralds a 180-degree change in the political direction of Israel’s presidency, from the incumbent Shimon Peres, a committed dove, to Rivlin, who opposes a Palestinian state.

During his presidency, Peres has taken every opportunity to preach peace, and he has also warned that failure to reach a peace deal could threaten Israel’s future as a Jewish state. Rivlin’s views are the polar opposite.

He believes that dividing territory that Israel controls is a greater danger than the threat of losing Israel’s Jewish majority, and has said that a peace deal would prove worthless. He said in 2010: “As long as Islamic fundamentalism thinks that Jews are forbidden to settle in the Holy Land, we have a problem. It will not be resolved by an agreement, even if we obtain a promise from all the Arab states that it will be fine.”

Rivlin, who is a Knesset member for the ruling Likud party, defeated the centrist Meir Sheetrit by 63-53 in the decisive second round of voting in Knesset on Tuesday. He will take over from Peres when his seven-year term finishes at the end of July.

While Rivlin’s positions are likely to cause controversy over the coming months and years, Knesset members were more interested on Tuesday in whether he can restore the image of the largely ceremonial institution of president after the scandal-ridden campaigning season. Rivlin referred to this responsibility in his victory speech, acknowledging that the “public’s trust in the presidency was harmed” and saying: “As president I must rehabilitate that trust. I will continue to serve the public faithfully.”

The Labour candidate dramatically dropped out at the last minute after police opened a probe into his financial affairs – a probe that reportedly uncovered a safe in Jerusalem stuffed with 2 million shekels ($600,000) in undeclared cash. Right-wing hopeful Silvan Shalom left the race after allegations were raised – and subsequently dismissed by police – that he sexually assaulted a former employee 15 years ago.

Rivlin’s reputation as clean, and his liberalism and outspoken defence of democratic values in the domestic arena, led some on the left to cautiously welcome his election. In the final stretch of electioneering, journalist Dimi Reider of the far-left portal +972 endorsed Rivlin, in an article called “Why the Left’s best president might come from the Right.” He wrote that during his stint as Knesset speaker, his “commitment to parliamentary democracy (and democracy in general) saw him turn time and again against his own party and its allies, stalling most of the anti-democratic legislation pushed by Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud and Lieberman’s Israel Beitenu, while at the same time trying to instruct his fellow right-wing legislators about the dangers of nationalist populism.”

Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, the most left-wing minister in the government, said after results were announced that both she and Rivlin “believe in true democracy and in the state,” adding that “the State of Israel has a President who I am sure will represent her with honour.”

Peres offered some words of warning when he called Rivlin after the ballot. “It is a position that brings with it responsibility, you have to consider your every word and every action, but you will do it successfully because you are, to your core, a good person,” he said.

Peres went on to tell his successor: “As president your role is to serve, not to rule and in my eyes there is no greater honour than to faithfully serve your nation and your people. You have all the qualities to do just that.”