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The Knesset elected its former speaker, Reuven Rivlin, as President of the State of Israel. He will be sworn in on 24 July 2014.
Reuven Rivlin is an impudent Zionist personality, who comes from an old Ashkenazi family originating from Lithuania; he’s a vegetarian and a fan of the Betar Movement. An advocate of the Greater Israel (that is to say the extension through war of the current state over the majority of the Middle East) and against the creation of a Palestinian state, he is nevertheless in favor of abiding by the rule of law within the Jewish state.
A very independent person, he has for a long time been at loggerheads with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with whom he maintains a difficult relationship. His mandate is expected to focus on domestic political issues, but he could also spring a surprise with regard to foreign policy (he endorsed the recognition of the Armenian genocide).
A lawyer by training, he is the first Israeli president who does not owe his career to his military engagement (his predecessor, Shimon Peres, is the father of the Israeli atomic bomb).
The election campaign was marked by scandal: Netanyahu’s candidate, Silvan Shalom, was forced to withdraw after he was accused of sexual harassment; while Labour candidate Binyamin Ben-Eliezer was also forced to step down after the police found 2 million shekels (577,000 dollars) that he had "forgotten" to declare to the tax authorities.
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