JERUSALEM: Far-right hawk Reuven Rivlin was sworn in as Israel’s 10th president on Thursday at a formal ceremony in parliament which saw elder statesman Shimon Peres stepping down.

“In prayer, in awe and humility, on your behalf and at your com-mand, I come to faithfully fulfil my role as president of the state of Israel,” he said, a skullcap on his head and his left hand resting on a copy of the Old Testament.

Reuven Rivlin is a far-right hawk with a quirky sense of humour known as the guard-dog of democracy.

Popular and affable, 74-year-old “Ruby” Rivlin was a veteran member of Pri­me Minister Benjamin Neta­n­yahu’s rightwing Likud pa­rty and a former parliament speaker.

He has held the post of speaker twice — from 2003 to 2006, and again from 2009 to 2013.

He has made no secret of his vision of a “greater Isr­ael” encompassing all the territory between the Jor­dan River and the Mediter-ranean.

But during his tenure as speaker, he also earned a reputation as a fierce defender of democracy, winning him support from the left and even Israel’s Arab minority. —AFP

Published in Dawn, July 25th, 2014