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Photo: Reuters
Reuven Rivlin. 'What you see and what you hear is what you get'
Photo: Reuters
Eitan Haber

Even as president, Rubi will stay Rubi

Op-ed: Rivlin may keep quiet at first, but after a short period at President's Residence he will say exactly what he has to say.

Reuven (Rubi) Rivlin's election as the State of Israel's 10th president was marked by loud ovations. And this is just the beginning: The blare of trumpets, the blowing of a shofar, three "long live the president" chants and a standing ovation. Fourteen years of strenuous, focused political work came to a temporary end on Tuesday.

 

 

The dream came true for Rubi and Nechama and their children. Rivlin will be the next president, and after his election he probably hummed the words written by Revisionist Zionist leader Ze'ev Jabotinsky in the Beitar song: "A Jew even in poverty is a prince though a slave or a tramp. You were created the son of a king, crowned with David's crown."

 

Rivlin is one of the only members of the Likud faction, perhaps the only one, who doesn't have to learn by heart the words of the song he sees as the greatest anthem of all. He sucked it in from his mother's milk.

 

Throughout his years in politics, he has overcome many hurdles, but up until the moment he was informed that he was elected president, 117 Knesset members managed to drive him up the wall.

 

He was pretty close to not seeing the dream come true again. But as of Tuesday afternoon, when he heard the words "Mr. President" for the very first time (I wonder who it was who got to say those words first), the countdown began all over again at the Rivlin residence. Now he can already forget the words of the song, "Our road is not an easy one."

 

Rivlin is a man of people. He is loved, and he loves to be loved. But like Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (what a difficult comparison for both of them), he is wrapped in 75 years of pure, unequivocal ideology: The State of Israel is the Jewish state from the (Mediterranean) Sea to the (Jordan) River and there is no room for another state, and other doctrines he learned in his father's home and in the national camp.

 

It's Rivlin's turn to make Netanyahu suffer

Up until now, Rivlin has belonged to the more ideological camp of the Revisionist Movement, and has not budged right or left. He is strictly devoted to Jabotinsky's doctrine and quotes his writings as if they were said yesterday at the Herzliya Conference. He definitely does not approve of the policy of compromising with the Palestinians and other statements made by the government members, particularly the prime minister.

 

Up until now, he has tried to restrain himself so as not to harm his chances of being elected president. And what will he do now that he has already been elected and reached his new high position? If he keeps silent, he will not be Rubi Rivlin. If he tries to instill that doctrine, without any updates, he will raise havoc, especially with the media, which will not be as kind to him as they were before.

 

My bet is that Rubi Rivlin will remain Rubi Rivlin and say what's on his heart. Straightforwardly, painfully honest, the most non-political politician. His wife, Nechama, will likely help him with that.

 

The Rivlin we know likes to talk. A lot. One can definitely say about him that "what you see and what you hear is what you get." He wraps his conduct and comments with pleasantness, with a good smile and joy in his voice, but he does not use double meanings, diplomatic wordings, evasions, lies, even if they are temporary. And here – not only, but also – lies the foundation of the animosity between him and Netanyahu. Rivlin is the net; Netanyahu is the gross.

 

Rivlin may keep quiet at first, but it's safe to assume that after a basic training period at the President's Residence, he will say what he has to say from his high seat as Israel's president. He is not a meteorologist and does not change his opinion according to the direction of the wind.

 

In addition, he doesn't owe anything to the prime minister, who did a lot to thwart his election, because Netanyahu foresees the future correctly. And we must not forget that he has seven years to spend in the President's Residence. Bibi made him suffer for a long time, both ideologically and personally, and now it's Rivlin's turn.

 


פרסום ראשון: 06.12.14, 00:22
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