President at polling station: I implore you all to vote
Reuven Rivlin casts his ballot, says voting is 'not just a great privilege but also a great duty'.
President Reuven Rivlin cast his vote Tuesday at a Jerusalem school and implored people to get out and vote. “We are voting today for ourselves – for our children, our elderly, residents of the Gaza envelope and residents of the northern border,” he said. “Don’t leave the decision in others’ hands."
"This is a very exciting time for us. Even when voting for the eighteenth time in my life, I’m excited. This is a day that celebrates real democracy – and with this feeling my wife and I arrived at the polling station this morning," he said.
"I still remember well how my parents went out to vote for Israel’s first Knesset while dressed up in festive clothes and excited about the day.” The president emphasized the importance of voting. “It’s not just a great privilege but also a great duty,” he added.
The president’s wife Nechama said when she voted that of all the times she had voted as an Israeli citizen, this was undoubtedly the most exciting vote of all for her.
President Rivlin wrote in Ynet's print publication Yedioth Ahronoth that "in a world where democracy is not to be taken for granted, in a world where civic culture, free speech, and the right to express an opinion are silenced by force and terror – in such a world, every day in which citizens react and criticize, every day in which a free and biting press thrives, every day in which public representatives are held accountable to their electorate – is a day of celebration.
"Election Day is the most important day of celebration in civil life. It is a day to celebrate democracy, liberty, and independence. I still remember the first elections in the State of Israel, in January of 1949.
"I was a ten year old boy. Everyone wore white for ‘the day of celebration for Israeli democracy’, the day of celebrating the State of Israel. 66 years have passed, but for me Election Day is still a day of celebration. But Election Day is also a day of judgment.
"Election Day is also a day of national and public soul-searching, when we examine what has been and decide how Israel will look in the future. We take responsibility for what’s spoiled, for what’s wrong, and seek to fix what we can. Through the simple act of slipping an envelope into a ballot box, we actively participate in shaping our Israel and declare that the rule of law, the separation of powers, and the social values of justice, fairness, and equality – all these are not just meaningless slogans.”
