Reuven Rivlin: The affable face of Israel's far-right
JERUSALEM: Former parliamentary speaker Reuven Rivlin, elected on Tuesday as Israel's 10th president, is a far-right hawk with a quirky sense of humour and a reputation as the guard-dog of democracy.
Popular and affable, 74-year-old 'Ruby' Rivlin is a veteran member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's rightwing Likud party.
He has made no secret of his vision of a Greater Israel encompassing all the territory between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean. But during his tenure as speaker, he also earned a reputation as a fierce defender of democracy, winning him support from the left and even Israel's Arab minority.
Considered to be among the Likud's most hawkish members, Rivlin has never hidden his opposition to the creation of a Palestinian state and is a staunch backer of Jewish settlements.
"Rivlin won't be the State of Israel's president, but Greater Israel's president," wrote commentator Ari Shavit in Haaretz newspaper about the largely ceremonial post. "He will exploit the presidential institution to advance the West Bank settlement project, which he worships, and the one-state solution he believes in," he wrote.
Popular and affable, 74-year-old 'Ruby' Rivlin is a veteran member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's rightwing Likud party.
He has made no secret of his vision of a Greater Israel encompassing all the territory between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean. But during his tenure as speaker, he also earned a reputation as a fierce defender of democracy, winning him support from the left and even Israel's Arab minority.
Considered to be among the Likud's most hawkish members, Rivlin has never hidden his opposition to the creation of a Palestinian state and is a staunch backer of Jewish settlements.
"Rivlin won't be the State of Israel's president, but Greater Israel's president," wrote commentator Ari Shavit in Haaretz newspaper about the largely ceremonial post. "He will exploit the presidential institution to advance the West Bank settlement project, which he worships, and the one-state solution he believes in," he wrote.
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German Court Dismisses Far-Right Suit Vs. President
Germany's highest court has thrown out a complaint by the country's biggest far-right party against President Joachim Gauck, who described protesters against a center for asylum seekers as "nutcases."
The National Democratic Party argued Gauck violated its rights when he said during an event weeks before German national elections last September: "We need citizens who take to the streets and show the nutcases their limits."
Gauck was referring to protests launched by party members and supporters against the transformation of an abandoned Berlin school into a dormitory for asylum seekers.
The Federal Constitutional Court ruled Tuesday that Gauck didn't cross constitutional "boundaries regarding negative remarks about political parties."
It said the word "nutcases" was acceptable "as a collective term for people who have not learned the lessons of history."
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It looks like the Hungarian Supreme Court got it right
Jobbik, Hungary's far-right party cannot be deemed "far-right" by newscasters, according to a decision on Monday (3 June) by the country's highest court.
Hungary's supreme court said that by referring to Jobbik as a "parliamentary far-right party" in a newscast in 2012, the Hungarian commercial television channel ATV breached the law because it expressed an opinion.
The court said that since Jobbik does not consider itself an extreme-right party, referring to it as "far-right" expresses an opinion, and leaves a negative impression with the viewer.
This rule only applies to TV and radio broadcasting as they are obliged to provide impartial news for a certain period of airtime.
ATV argued that "parliamentary far-right" is not an opinion, but a well-known fact, and said it is considering filing a constitutional complaint.
This is not the first time Jobbik has attacked adjectives associated with itself.
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Germany's Federal Constitutional Court is composed of assholes "who have not learned the lessons of history."
