The Ideals and Vision in Former President Reuven Rivlin's 'Four Tribes Speech'

Essay from the year 2021 in the subject Politics - Region: Near East, Near Orient, grade: 1,3, , language: English, abstract: This essay deals with the questions: What was the situation President Rivlin envisioned? What was President Rivlin's ideal? Is Israel getting closer to fulfilling that vision? In 2014, former President Reuven Rivlin was elected President of the State of Israel. Previously, he was chairman of the Knesset and an experienced politician. Since taking office, Rivlin has sought to be a voice of unity and moderation, frequently calling for better integration of Israel's Arab population and denouncing racism and bigotry. He held one of his most historic speeches in 2015 at the Herzliya Conference, when he explained, that the characteristics of Israel's society will undergo a remarkable transformation. 25 years ago, the solid majority of Israel's society subscribed to the Zionist ethos, shared the collective burdens, and actively participated in the labor force. In the future there will no longer be only one 'tribe' that constitutes a clear majority in Israeli society, instead there is a process in which the four tribes of modern Israel - secular Jews, religious Zionist Jews, ultra-Orthodox Jews, and Arabs - are growing equally in numbers and are slowly converging to become representative majorities in Israeli society.