As new Knesset sworn in, Rivlin urges unity

Opening the 21st Knesset, President Rivlin issues a call for unity in Israeli society following an election campaign filled with allegations of incitement by right-wing parties against Arab Israelis.

“Now is the time to fight for our common home where secular, religious, ultra-Orthodox, Jews and Arabs — yes, they are called Arabs and there is nothing wrong with saying it — right and left, can find themselves equal,” he says in a speech.

“Let us remember, we were not doomed to live together, we were destined to live together,” Rivlin adds.

The president says lawmakers should pass a quasi-constitutional law during the next Knesset entitled “Basic Law: Legislation,” which he says would be a part of a future constitution, and calls for “an end to the dangerous clash between the legislature and the judiciary.”

“We must strengthen the separation of powers, particularly between the legislature and the judiciary, to maintain the dignity and the independence of each branch of government and to end the overlap and mutual erosion between them. You, members of the Knesset, are in a position to add another vital brick in the wall protecting Israeli democracy and to ensure that the State of Israel continues to flourish as a Jewish and democratic, democratic and Jewish state,” he says.