reuven rivlin

Reuven Rivlin, who finished his seven-year term as Israel’s president on Wednesday, was able to walk the streets incognito during his incumbency thanks to a heavy disguise supplied by the Shin Bet security agency.

Israel’s Knesset elected a new president, Isaac Herzog, on Wednesday, placing a former left-wing rival to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a ceremonial role even as Netanyahu’s rivals struggled to meet a deadline to form a government.

Jewish Agency chairman Isaac Herzog has been elected the 11th president of Israel after receiving the majority of votes from Knesset members in a secret ballot.

Following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s failure to cobble together a ruling coalition by Wednesday’s deadline, President Reuven Rivlin has tasked the opposition, led by Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid, with a chance to form an alternative government.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is on his way to leading the opposition, a top Likud MK said Monday night, hours after the ruling party faced a stinging defeat in the vote on appointing the heads of a key Knesset committee.

Hours ahead of Israel’s Independence Day celebrations, the country marked its annual Memorial Day, commemorating more than 23,000 fallen soldiers and terror victims Wednesday with a two-minute siren.

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin on Tuesday handed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the mandate to form a government but cautioned it was not likely the premier would be successful because he lacked support.

Israel’s nationwide COVID-19 vaccination campaign began on Sunday, with health officials estimating the country will be the first to vaccinate its entire at-risk population.

A delegation from the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain took part in a Hanukkah menorah lighting ceremony at the Western Wall in Jerusalem on Monday, in what was hailed by the holy site’s chief rabbi as a “Hanukkah miracle.”

Israel announced plans Thursday to send a second spacecraft to land on the moon, after its first effort crash-landed last year.

Israel on Wednesday received its most advanced warship, a German-made Sa’ar-6-class corvette equipped with sensors, weapons and defensive systems that will aid the navy in protecting the country’s natural gas rigs and trade routes amid sky-high tensions with Iran.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin responded Tuesday to the fatal terrorist attack in Vienna a day earlier, with the Israeli leader calling for the world to defeat the “savage” Islamist terrorism.

In near-identical messages, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas wished President Donald Trump a speedy recovery after the US president and his wife, Melania Trump, was diagnosed with COVID-19. “Like millions of Israelis, Sara and

Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, credited with having made Jewish sacred texts accessible to the general public, died Friday in Jerusalem at the age of 83, to tributes from Israeli leaders.

Israel offered humanitarian aid to its ostensible enemy, Lebanon, after a massive explosion at a Beirut port killed at least 100 people and injured thousands more, leaving large swaths of the capital in ruins.

President Reuven Rivlin warned on Wednesday the murder of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or the murder of a protester was a real possibility amid the current tumultuous state of affairs in Israel, in which almost daily protests are occurring against the premier.

TEL AVIV – Israel on Sunday once again found itself embroiled in a political deadlock after President Reuven Rivlin denied Blue and White leader Benny Gantz’s request for a 14-day extension to form a government. 

TEL AVIV – In an unlikely show of camaraderie, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and main rival Blue and White head Benny Gantz shared an affectionate moment on social media over a coronavirus post, prompting reluctant umpire President Reuven Rivlin to urge the two party heads to continue the solidarity offline as well. 

TEL AVIV – President Reuven Rivlin on Sunday announced that he has called on Benny Gantz to form a government after the Blue and White leader beat out Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and received the majority of endorsements for the premiership.

Jerusalem — Israel will lobby key leaders at this week’s 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz on what it considers one of the gravest modern threats to the Jewish people: Iran.

A Hanukkah celebration in a New York suburb turned into horror Saturday night after a man entered and began stabbing people, witnesses say. Five victims were taken to nearby hospitals, according to police.

Benny Gantz, the head of Israel’s centrist Blue and White party, received the mandate to try to form a government from President Reuven Rivlin in a ceremony in Jerusalem on Wednesday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has received warm birthday wishes from U.S. President Donald Trump, providing a welcome distraction on his 70th birthday as he continues to fight for his political survival.

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his shock and anger at Wednesday’s synagogue attack in Germany, leading a host of Israeli politicians condemning the antisemitic murders.

The Security Cabinet will convene Sunday for the first time in two months, amid cryptic warnings by Israeli leadership in recent days of a growing security threat. Members of the top forum will meet at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem in the afternoon.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is considering “returning the mandate” given to him by President Reuven Rivlin to form a Knesset majority as soon as Sunday should the talks between negotiating teams for the Likud party, headed by Netanyahu, and Blue and White, led by Benny Gantz, end without result.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been given the job of forming a new Israeli government by President Reuven Rivlin, after the opposition rejected any national unity government that allowed Netanyahu to lead it.

After completing meetings with party representatives to hear their recommendations as to who should form the next government, and with neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor Blue and White chairman Benny Gantz receiving majority support in the new Knesset, President Reuven Rivlin on Monday issued an invitation for a meeting between the two in an attempt to move forward in the coalition-building process.

In a dramatic shift, the Joint List alliance of Arab-majority parties recommended Blue and White leader Benny Gantz for prime minister on Sunday, seemingly paving the way for the centrist party to get the first crack at assembling a coalition.

Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman on Sunday said his right-wing party will not recommend any candidate for prime minister during its consultations with President Reuven Rivlin later in the evening.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Wednesday he would not travel to New York for the UN’s annual General Assembly later this month after failing to secure sufficient support in elections to form a new government with his right-wing political allies.

The veteran Israeli politician Avigdor Lieberman took the political gamble of his life when he spurned his mentor, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and forced an unprecedented repeat election. As results began rolling in from Tuesday’s vote, it appeared to have paid off.

Following the riots that occurred throughout Israel on Tuesday, protesters called for further demonstrations on Wednesday, which are expected to be violent.

The Central Consistory of France, the body that represents French Jewry in matters of religion, confirmed Wednesday the city of Paris will name a square in honor Jerusalem.

TEL AVIV – Nechama Rivlin, the wife of President Reuven Rivlin, died Tuesday morning a day before her 74th birthday. 

Israeli voters will have a second chance to choose their next government on September 17, after a small conservative party blocked a coalition between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party and smaller  parties on the right.