Reuven Rivlin

Reuven "Ruvi" Rivlin (Hebrew: רְאוּבֵן "רוּבִי" רִיבְלִין [ʁeʔuˈven ʁivˈlin] ^ⓘ; born 9 September 1939) is an Israeli politician and lawyer who served as the president of Israel between 2014 and 2021. He is a member of the Likud party. Rivlin was Minister of Communications from 2001 to 2003, and subsequently served as Speaker of the Knesset from 2003 to 2006 and 2009 to 2013. On 10 June 2014, he was elected President of Israel. His term ended on 7 July 2021.

Rivlin argues for a Greater Israel that would embrace all people and give the Palestinians of the West Bank and Gaza full Israeli citizenship. He is also a strong supporter of minority rights, particularly for Arab Israelis. He supports the one-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.

Reuven Rivlin was born in Jerusalem during the Mandate era to the Rivlin family, which has lived in Jerusalem since 1809. He is a descendant of students of the Vilna Gaon. His parents were Rachel "Ray" Rivlin and Yosef Yoel Rivlin. Yosef created the first Hebrew edition of the Quran and was a candidate for president of Israel in 1957 before withdrawing in favor of the incumbent Yitzhak Ben-Zvi.

Rivlin attended Gymnasia Rehavia high school, and served in the Intelligence Corps of the Israel Defense Forces. During the Six-Day War, he fought with the Jerusalem Brigade and accompanied the Paratroopers Brigade as an intelligence officer. After military service, he studied law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Before entering politics, Rivlin served as legal advisor of the Beitar Jerusalem Sports Association, manager of the Beitar football team, and chairman of the association; member of the Jerusalem City Council; member of the El Al Board; Chairman of the Israel Institute for Occupational Safety and Hygiene; a board member of the Khan Theater, and board member of the Israel Museum.

He was first elected to the 12th Knesset in 1988, and served as Likud chairman from 1988 to 1993. He lost his seat in the 1992 elections, but returned to the Knesset following the 1996 elections. Re-elected in 1999, he was appointed Minister of Communications in March 2001, serving until February 2003, when he was elected Knesset Speaker following the 2003 elections. During his term as Speaker, he was criticized for breaking the tradition of political neutrality of the post; he was one of Ariel Sharon's harshest critics regarding the disengagement plan, and had a public confrontation with Aharon Barak, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, concerning the court's authority to declare legislation illegal.

Rivlin was re-elected in 2006 and 2009. He ran in the 2007 election for President as the Likud candidate. He withdrew after the first round of voting when it became clear that Kadima MK Shimon Peres had sufficiently broad support to inevitably win in a run-off.

On 30 March 2009, the Knesset elected Rivlin as Speaker with a majority of 90 votes out of 120.