Supporters rally in solidarity with President Rivlin
150 supporters arrive at Rivlin's home to condemn the incitement that has swirled around him recently.
Roughly 150 people rallied on Friday in support of President Reuven Rivlin in front of his home, following a difficult week in which the president was the target of inciting rhetoric following his visit to the White House and meeting with US President Barack Obama.
The demonstrators, led by the anti-racism grassroots organization Tag Meir, held up signs bearing slogans such as "the people are with you" and "racism is not Judaism".
Rivlin surprised demonstrators by leaving the house to greet and thank them.
"We arrived here from all around Israel to protest the outrageous incitement against the president," Tag Meir Chairman Gadi Gvaryahu said."This incitement cannot continue. We will keep coming here until the devious rhetoric against the president ceases."
Rivlin urged Israelis to be tolerant earlier this week. At a convention at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, the president said: "I would like to begin by speaking from the heart about the mood in recent days. Freedom of speech is a fundamental democratic value and is essential to us all – to the president and to any one of our people. We strongly disagree with each other.
"Our disagreements are profound to the point of a chasm, and it is exactly because of this that we should argue justly, we should argue correctly. Let's listen and not trade blows," Rivlin said.
