Peres praises Rivlin as a ‘good person’ to his core

Shimon Peres and Reuven Rivlin
Shimon Peres and Reuven Rivlin

JERUSALEM (Press Release) — The President of the State of Israel, Shimon Peres, called and congratulated the President-elect of Israel MK Reuven ‘Rubi’ Rivlin who will serve as the 10th President of the State of Israel from the end of July.

“Rubi, Your Excellency the next President of the State of Israel, you are right for this role,” Peres told Rivlin. “It is a position that brings with it responsibility, you have to consider your every word and every action, but you will do it successfully because you are, to your core, a good person. There is a handover period and I am at your disposal from this moment onwards with whatever you need. My team and I will do everything we can to ensure the handover is conducted is honorably and professionally and we do it gladly.”

President Peres continued and said, “I am at the end of my 7-year term as President and it is an incredible privilege to serve to our people. As President your role is to serve, not to rule and in my eyes there is no greater honor than to faithfully serve your nation and your people. You have all the qualities to do just that. I wish you luck and I am confident that you will succeed in your future, which is also the future of the State of Israel.”
President-elect Rivlin thanked President Peres and said, “I thank you on behalf of myself and my wife. I am stepping into big shoes, it won’t be easy to be the 10th President after your presidency in which you done a lot of good for humanity, thank you Shimon.”

Rivlin also met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday, June 11, at Netanyahu’s official residence in Jerusalem.  The two men have been political adversaries in the past.
At the end of their meeting, Prime Minister Netanyahu said, “We have known each other for several good decades. We are both from Jerusalem, the sons of professors who were educated in the philosophy of Jabotinsky and we have much more in common – such as our football team. Joint work on behalf of all Israelis is before us. We have gone through much together and I am certain that we will now know to put the less good aspects aside and work responsibly for the future of the State of Israel.”
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Preceding provided by the offices of Shimon Peres and Benyamin Netanyahu