Reuven Rivlin Quotes

A multicultural society does not reject the culture of the other but is prepared to listen, to see, to dialogue and, in the final analysis, to possibly accept the other's culture without compromising its own.

- Reuven Rivlin

There is no, and cannot be, any situation in which we don't respect the law and the judiciary. It is unacceptable to attack the courts; criticism is allowed, but attacks are not. It shakes the basis of our democracy.

- Reuven Rivlin

Our ideals are under the constant threat of extremism, whether in the form of radical Muslim groups or the emergence of other elements seeking to deny the rights and freedoms of others.

- Reuven Rivlin

There's no doubt that our hearts are with the residents of Gaza. We and the whole world are unable to get to a situation in which Gaza can be rehabilitated. There needs to be an international initiative with Israel's participation, in order to bring an end to the enmity against us.

- Reuven Rivlin

Learning the core curriculum cannot come through coercion. It must come through a recognition of the need to integrate with economic life.

- Reuven Rivlin

In the end, Arik believes in security above all and is a salient pragmatist, a disciple of Ben-Gurion.

- Reuven Rivlin

We are living in a multicultural society. Our role as leaders is to enable grappling with this situation, even when multiculturalism is difficult.

- Reuven Rivlin

No nation is immune to anti-Semitism and xenophobia.

- Reuven Rivlin

We have always realized, as Israelis and as Jews, that we are not fighting Islam and thus avoided turning the Temple Mount issue into a war of Jews against Muslims.

- Reuven Rivlin

The ability of the president to be perceived as someone with whom all Israelis can identify depends on his ability to avoid being a party to debate.

- Reuven Rivlin

Direct talks is the only possible way to build trust and to resolve the conditions for a peace perspective between Palestinians and Israelis.

- Reuven Rivlin

The relationship between the Jews and Arabs is necessary to help build a bridge between Israelis and Palestinians.

- Reuven Rivlin

As a rule, whenever I hear about a demographic threat, it comes first of all from a type of thinking that says the Arabs are a threat. And this leads to thinking of transfer or that they should be killed. I am appalled by this kind of talk.

- Reuven Rivlin

It seems to me that many of the belligerent Jewish movements that were built upon hatred of Arabs - and I'm not only talking about Lieberman, but within the Likud as well - grew out of the patronizing socialist attitude that said, 'They'll be there, and we'll be here.'

- Reuven Rivlin

Many of Israel's Arabs, which see themselves as part of the Palestinian population, feel the pain of their brothers across the green line - a pain they feel the state of Israel is responsible for.

- Reuven Rivlin

The depth of this conflict, which is more than one hundred years old, requires us to find a way to communicate... so that the residents of the Middle East, Jews and Arabs alike, can live not as if they were forced to live together, but rather destined to live together.

- Reuven Rivlin

Israel is proud to be Jordan's partner and to stand at Jordan's side in promoting stability and quiet to our entire region.

- Reuven Rivlin

Every opinion must be suffered. One must listen to what may be rousing, annoying, even shocking, but it must be done honestly, fairly and with equanimity, respecting the rights of every Member of the Knesset and each faction, guarding the minority in the face of the predatory majority.

- Reuven Rivlin

Netanyahu must mend fences with Obama.

- Reuven Rivlin

The Jewish journey started in the land of Israel, and it always strove to return there against all odds and all limitations.

- Reuven Rivlin

Jerusalem should not tolerate any religious war.

- Reuven Rivlin

I ask the members of the Knesset to be very strict about maintaining the principles of democracy.

- Reuven Rivlin

One cannot tell the High Court what to adjudicate. They must judge, and then the legislature must act accordingly.

- Reuven Rivlin

It's not for the president to determine the arrangements between Israel and the Palestinians, and the Arab world, but to be the bridge between opinions and to facilitate dialogue and understanding.

- Reuven Rivlin

The ayatollahs are trying to unite the whole Arab world against Israel by saying that Israel is something that should be brought to an end.

- Reuven Rivlin

Israeli society is comprised of four principal tribes growing closer in size.

- Reuven Rivlin

Whereas, in the personal realm, Sharon is a very sensitive person whose eyes often grow moist, in the national realm, he is entirely without emotions.

- Reuven Rivlin

One could establish a system in one state in which Judea and Samaria are jointly held. The Jews would vote for a Jewish parliament and the Palestinians for an Arab parliament, and we would create a system in which life is shared.

- Reuven Rivlin

We can establish a Jewish and democratic state, but the burden of proof is on us.

- Reuven Rivlin

Multiculturalism is a bed of beautiful roses that has some thorns, so we just have to be careful not to get pricked or to prick one another.

- Reuven Rivlin

What happens in one region affects people across the world.

- Reuven Rivlin

I don't see any possibility of peace if there won't be open borders between us and our neighbors.

- Reuven Rivlin

Jewish and Arab neighborhoods in Jerusalem are interlaced one with the other.

- Reuven Rivlin

When we come to the hospital to give birth, we don't come as a Jew or an Arab; we come as a human being.

- Reuven Rivlin

As a Jew, even if you were not born in Poland, the very name, Poland, gives rise to a shuddering in your body and a longing in your heart. This country was the breeding ground for the soul of the Jewish nation, and unfortunately, also grounds to the largest Jewish cemetery.

- Reuven Rivlin

There are many Palestinians, to be diplomatic, who believe there is no way to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, first of all, and there are a lot of people that believe there is no way to recognize Israel at all.

- Reuven Rivlin

I wish to strengthen the hand of the Prime Minister and the heads of the security agencies in the unrelenting battle for our right to maintain normal daily life in every place in Israel.

- Reuven Rivlin

My door will be open to everyone.

- Reuven Rivlin

Terror is terror is terror, and it doesn't matter what nationality that terror belongs to.

- Reuven Rivlin

Conflicts, even just ones, which in the end can come at the expense of the State of Israel, are things that we must be very cautious about and hold back on personally.

- Reuven Rivlin

I pray that we learn to live together. That Jerusalem is one, with law and order.

- Reuven Rivlin

We have many candidates, like in reality television, but we don't really have a leader.

- Reuven Rivlin

Even if the Right says that Um Al-Fahm should be outside Israel, this is impossible.

- Reuven Rivlin

There is a conflict in the Middle East between two entities, and they're both right, each in their own way.

- Reuven Rivlin

All over the Middle East, we face difficult challenges: the ongoing tragedy in Syria, the instability in Iraq, and the jihadist terrorism which dares to speak in the name of Islam, brings so many to seek refuge. The Hashemite Kingdom is facing all these challenges with honor, with dignity, and with great national and human solidarity.

- Reuven Rivlin

To come and say about me that I'm destroying Israel, that I hate Israel, that's a bit insulting.

- Reuven Rivlin

The extremists are talking too loudly, and everyone is convinced that only he is on the right side.

- Reuven Rivlin

It can't be 'occupied territory' if the land is your own.

- Reuven Rivlin

We need a broad government which will make decisions, but not a national unity government, because we are divided from within.

- Reuven Rivlin

I won't intervene in Knesset decisions.

- Reuven Rivlin

Peres came with a worldview. I also came with a worldview that I have not abandoned and that guides me still.

- Reuven Rivlin

We must stay focused on the bilateral negotiations between the Palestinians and us.

- Reuven Rivlin

Our enemy is hatred - the hatred inherent in fundamentalism.

- Reuven Rivlin

Undoubtedly, a democratic state without an alternative is a danger to democracy itself.

- Reuven Rivlin

I hereby swear, in my name and that of all our descendants, that we will never act against the principle of equal rights, and we will never try and force someone from our land.

- Reuven Rivlin

The president is the face of the State of Israel around the world: not a representative of a specific ideology but of the collective creativity and history of the Jewish people.

- Reuven Rivlin

We must immediately find the way to come and say to the U.S., 'Despite the difficult differences of opinion between us, there are no closer friends, and no better allies than you to us, and we to you.'

- Reuven Rivlin

Everyone needs to understand that we were meant to live together in this country. We have to get to know one another; even if we don't agree, we have to enable each side to express itself.

- Reuven Rivlin

Germany remains among the few countries in Europe to acknowledge, officially and nationally, its responsibility for the crimes it led against our people.

- Reuven Rivlin

I was born to a Likud which had light; there were no shadows.

- Reuven Rivlin

I know that sometimes politics creates situations in which people want to say particular things for political reasons.

- Reuven Rivlin

There are many Palestinians who believe there is no way to recognize Israel as a Jewish state. They call for the right of the return of refugees to Israel - something which is unacceptable for the consensus in Israel and which strikes at the very heart of this issue.

- Reuven Rivlin

The politicization of the presidency would pose a real threat to the institution and its function.

- Reuven Rivlin

I want to thank the American people - on both sides of the aisle - for years of financial, diplomatic, and military support, and for helping us carry the burden of defense.

- Reuven Rivlin

All sides must learn to respect one another.

- Reuven Rivlin

I see myself as a former politician, and in that capacity, I say to other politicians, 'Hold back.'

- Reuven Rivlin

It's preferable for the Palestinians to become citizens of the state than for us to divide the country.

- Reuven Rivlin

There are no short cuts, no detours in the Middle East.

- Reuven Rivlin

Jerusalem is the united capital of Israel. Since 1967, anyone can practice his religion according to his own conscience and complete free will.

- Reuven Rivlin

We are one family, and the connection between all Jews, all over the world, is very important to the State of Israel.

- Reuven Rivlin

The idea that the State of Israel could be democracy only for its Jewish citizens is unconscionable, and we must find a way to address this.

- Reuven Rivlin

The burden is on the Jewish majority in Israel to prove that the definition of their country as Jewish and democratic is not a contradiction.

- Reuven Rivlin

Those who know my stance on Israeli democracy also know that there is nothing more foreign to me than the rejection of a position different to my own.

- Reuven Rivlin

It pains me to see the gap that exists in the public's consciousness - religious and secular - between the notion of Israel as a Jewish state and as a democratic state.

- Reuven Rivlin

I believe that our democratic values are also born out of our Jewish faith, a 'love for the stranger,' and equality before the law - these are not foreign values: this is Judaism.

- Reuven Rivlin

Israel's foreign policy has three points: the relationship with the U.S., the relationship with the U.S., and the relationship with the U.S.

- Reuven Rivlin

We cannot keep the Jewish state without being a democratic state.

- Reuven Rivlin

Today, there are those who hallucinate that a democratic and Jewish state is only democratic for the Jews.

- Reuven Rivlin

I am not someone who will cancel plans because of personal danger, because I'm really not afraid.

- Reuven Rivlin

All humanity share a common future, and we must work to try and shape it together. This is our duty, and it is our responsibility to our children and grandchildren.

- Reuven Rivlin

The reality is that we only have one person whom the public sees as appropriate to be prime minister, and that's a shame. I think that if there were more, it would be better for everyone, including Netanyahu.

- Reuven Rivlin

There is a difficulty in combating the type of terror that is perpetrated by groups of radical Jews. It's terror from within, and it is difficult to bring these perpetrators to justice; we need to create tools in order to combat this style of terrorism.

- Reuven Rivlin

We are not fighting against the Palestinian people, and we are not at war with Islam. We are fighting against terrorism.

- Reuven Rivlin

Arik is suffused with a mystical belief about Jerusalem.

- Reuven Rivlin

United Jerusalem has been and will forever be the capital of the Jewish People.

- Reuven Rivlin

The Knesset was right to limit the president's tenure to seven years.

- Reuven Rivlin

Disagreements will always occur between us, but we all approach them wanting the best for each and every one of us, for the whole people.

- Reuven Rivlin

The establishment of Israel was accompanied by much pain and suffering and a real trauma for the Palestinians.

- Reuven Rivlin

The Palestinians must understand that this is our home, to which we have returned, and we also have to understand that this is the homeland of all those born to it.

- Reuven Rivlin

There's no doubt we'd be very angry if the American president had come to the Knesset and argued against the government of Israel.

- Reuven Rivlin

We demand that people don't deny the Holocaust, and we can't ignore the tragedy of another nation.

- Reuven Rivlin

I won't allow any party to evade the question of which leader they support for prime minister.

- Reuven Rivlin

There is a crisis on the Right. It sees the Jewish and democratic state as a democracy for the Jews. This is something I cannot countenance.

- Reuven Rivlin

A friendship between Germany and Israel didn't always seem natural.

- Reuven Rivlin

There is one thing on which Arik will make no concessions: terrorism.

- Reuven Rivlin

We must remember that Islam is not an enemy, and we have no war with Islam.

- Reuven Rivlin

We also need the world, even though many times we don't agree with it.

- Reuven Rivlin

There will never be peace unless we have open borders. But that does not mean open on our side and you continue to hit me on the other.

- Reuven Rivlin

I'm not opposed to talking with anyone who is willing to talk.

- Reuven Rivlin