The presidency that was: Reuven Rivlin’s seven years in office
Moments when Israel’s 10th president hugged, cried and laughed with the Israeli public
- President Reuven Rivlin at a ceremony awarding outstanding soldiers as part of Israel's 70th Independence Day celebrations, at the President's residence in Jerusalem. April 19, 2018. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
- President Reuven Rivlin visiting the home of the Goldin family following the death of Hadar Goldin during the 2014 Gaza War, August 5 2014. (Mark Neyman/GPO)
- President Reuven Rivlin (L) meeting US President Barak Obama at the Whitehouse in Washington, December 9, 2015. (Kobi Gideon / GPO)
- President Reuven Rivlin addressing the UN General Assembly, January 28, 2015. (President's Office)
- President Reuven Rivlin (R) with his wife Nechama after snowfall in Jerusalem, February 20, 2015. (Haim Zach / GPO)
- President Reuven Rivlin (R) playing soccer with then-London mayor Boris Johnson (L) in Jerusalem, November 11, 2015. (Mark Neyman/GPO)
- President Reuven Rivlin (R) presenting Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu with the mandate to form a government, March 25, 2015. (Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)
- President Reuven Rivlin (L) meets with Pope Francis at the Vatican, September 3, 2015. (Haim Zach / GPO)
- President Reuven Rivlin playing with his grandchildren after snowfall in Jerusalem, February 20, 2015. photo by (Haim Zach / GPO
- President Reuven Rivlin is welcomed by an honor guard during his visit to Georgia, January 2017. (Haim Zach / GPO)
- President Reuven Rivlin and his wife Nechama at the Tal Mahal in India,16 November 2016. (Mark Neyman/GPO)
Isaac Herzog took office on Wednesday afternoon as Israel’s 11th president after a day of ceremonies with outgoing President Reuven Rivlin.
According to a statement Tuesday from the President’s Residence summarizing his seven years in office, Rivlin has the dubious record of overseeing more elections, tasking more lawmakers with forming a government, and spending more hours in consultations to form a government than any other president.
Waiting for Herzog on his desk in the president’s office will be a personal letter from Rivlin, addressed to “the president.”
“The truth is I am a little envious of you. In a short time you will discover the tremendous privilege that has fallen to you,” Rivlin wrote in the missive.
“In the coming seven years you will meet the men and women who are citizens of Israel. I am already telling you, you will want to hug them, all of them. You will want to cry with them, and to laugh with them. To be excited with them,” Rivlin wrote.
Here are some of the moments in which Rivlin himself hugged, cried and laughed with the Israeli public:











photo by (Haim Zach / GPO























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