Mr. Reuven (Ruvi) Rivlin is the 10th and current President of the State of Israel.
President Rivlin was born in 1939 in Jerusalem, where he resides to this day. His father, Prof. Yosef Yoel Rivlin, was a scholar of Semitic languages who translated the Qur’an and One Thousand and One Nights into Hebrew. His family’s roots in Jerusalem date back to the early 19th century.
Following his military service as an intelligence officer, President Rivlin studied law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He served as legal adviser, chairman, and team manager of the Beitar Jerusalem Sports Association, and was a member of the Jerusalem Municipal Council and of the El Al Executive Council. He is also a former member of the Board of Directors of the Khan Theater and a member of the International Council of the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. He served as Chairman of the Likud Organization and Chairman of the Jerusalem Branch of the Herut Movement.
As a member of the Likud Party, President Rivlin was first elected to the Knesset in 1988, and served seven parliamentary terms. He has also sat on various parliamentary committees, including Foreign Affairs and Defense; Constitution, Law and Justice; and Education and Culture. Appointed Minister of Communications in 2001, Rivlin sought to open up and expand the communications market in Israel and to ensure the development of advanced infrastructure. As twice-elected Speaker of the Knesset (2003-2006, 2009-2013), he worked to promote the parliament’s independence vis-à-vis the government and gained broad public recognition for his defense of Israeli democracy and his efforts to ensure the rights of minority groups.
Rivlin was elected President of the State of Israel in 2014, winning cross-party support. He has since acted in numerous ways to safeguard Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, to firmly establish cooperation between the diverse sectors comprising Israeli society, and to ensure full equality and prosperity among all of its citizens.
In May 2019, President Rivlin’s wife of nearly five decades, Nechama Rivlin z”l, passed away. An inspiring yet humble woman, Nechama leaves behind a legacy of supporting women and minorities and combatting intolerance and discrimination. Together they have four children and nine grandchildren. President Rivlin has been a vegetarian for ideological reasons for close to 30 years.