Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has folded: Today (Wednesday) he called MK Reuven Rivlin and informed him that he supports him in the presidential elections.
""We have been through a lot in our lives, better days and less good days, and I hope we will go through better days," Netanyahu told Rivlin. "I waited to see the final list of candidates, and as Prime Minister and Chairman of the Likud, I express my support for your candidacy.".
Likud ministers and MKs exerted heavy pressure on the prime minister to declare his support for Rivlin and leave behind the tensions that had arisen between the two.
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Minister Naftali Bennett also announced today his support for Rivlin for the presidency of the state, saying: "I support Reuven Rivlin for the presidency of the State of Israel. They say that a person is measured 'by his cup, his pocket, and his anger.' In his cup - Reuven Rivlin was never drunk on power. Even when he held high-ranking positions, he actually cared about the minority and the weak. In his pocket - his modesty is captivating, and his willingness to do gray work in the Knesset, even when he stepped down from his ministerial and Knesset speaker's chair, aroused great appreciation in me. And in his anger - even when he lost the last time in the presidential elections, he acted with nobility and statesmanship. It is not easy for anyone to lose.
"Ruby is the natural candidate for the presidency of the State of Israel. He is a statesman, a Zionist, a humane man, a great lover of the Land of Israel, the Torah of Israel and the people of Israel. A sensitive man, a man who knows how to get emotional and who knows how to make others feel emotional. That is what my president should be like. There is nothing more symbolic in my opinion than today, on the day of the liberation of Jerusalem, to announce support for a man whose second name is Jerusalem. As you know, the vote is free and secret, but I will also recommend to my friends to support Rubby and work for his victory.".
Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein received this morning from Knesset Secretary Yardena Meller-Horwitz the final list of candidates for the position of the tenth President of the State of Israel.
After an inspection conducted this morning at the Knesset Secretariat, during which a comparison of signatures was conducted on all submitted forms, it was found that all six candidates obtained 10 or more signatures that were not duplicates. The Speaker of the Knesset issued, as required by law, a letter to all members of Knesset, stating the names of the candidates and the names of the nominating members of Knesset.
Edelstein congratulated the process this morning and said: "I am happy that the entire submission process yesterday, as well as the checking of the forms and signatures this morning, went without any problems or embarrassments. In general, there is a feeling that the race over the past two weeks is going as it should. I hope that this will continue until election day on June 10. I wish success to all the candidates.".
