At the ceremony, Rivlin harshly condemned the massacre, calling it “a terrible crime” and came much closer to actually apologizing, than any other Israeli leader before or since.
Moreover, he declared as he has done many times during his presidency, that the Arabs are an integral part of Israel’s population and that Jews and Arabs are not doomed to live together but are destined to live together.
He also made the point that his father, who had translated the Koran into Hebrew, had many Arab friends and firmly believed in equal rights being accorded to Arab citizens.
Since then, Rivlin has visited several Arab villages, has hosted Arab mayors and has tried to resolve their problems. Further the president has visited Arab schools and has given prizes to Arab volunteers and outstanding Arab students, and in his Israel Hope flagship project, he has done his utmost to make Arabs part of Israeli mainstream society.
This week, instead of coming to Arab leaders with the gift of goodwill, he appealed to them for theirs. In the shadow of consistently erupting violence which has shattered the fragile foundations of coexistence, Rivlin participated in an online meeting on Thursday with Arab and Jewish heads of local councils, primarily from the Negev Region.
The meeting was initiated by Naif Abu Arar who heads the Arara Banegev Local Council. Other participants included head of the Federation of Local Authorities Haim Bibas; head of Kuseifa Local Council Elaziz Nasasra; head of Neve Midbar Regional Council Ibrahim Alhashula; head of the El-Qassum Regional Council Salameh al-Atrash; Dimona Mayor Benny Bitton; Yeruham Mayor Tal Ohana; Hura Mayor Has al-Atuna; head of Lakiya Local Council Ahmad al-Asad; head of Tel Sheva Local Council Omar Abu Rakaik; Arad Mayor Nisan Ben-Hamo; head of Bnei Shimon Regional Council Nir Zamir; head of Ramat Hanegev Regional Council Eran Doron; and head of Omer Local Council Pini Badash.
Rivlin reviewed events of the past few days, saying that the IDF is responding with all its might to rocket attacks from across the border, adding that the IDF is committed to the security of all Israeli citizens, whether Jewish or Arab or anything else.
Turning to the acts of brutality that have brought hostilities between Arabs and Jews to a fever pitch, Rivlin said: “Like everyone, I watched with deep shock, a heavy heart and great anger the violent and unrestrained disturbances that claimed lives, generated mental anguish, and set alight restaurants and houses of prayer. People’s homes were pelted with rocks, synagogues were torched, people were beaten with barbaric cruelty. I remembered the days when, as a child in Jerusalem, we dreamed of the day when we would have a sovereign state, an Israeli government, an Israeli army, an Israeli police force, with a system of Israeli law and justice. The violent disturbances we saw yesterday are a genuine threat to Israeli sovereignty. We must not allow it – even through silence – but must speak out clearly to commit to the rule of law in Israel, and to our shared existence. We must not allow extremists to set the tone. We must not allow violence to triumph. We represent the moderate majority, Jews and Arabs, who h
ave lived here together for 73 years and want to continue to live together in the State of Israel, a Jewish and democratic, democratic and Jewish state that is committed to the security, welfare and prosperity of all its people. All of them!”
Rivlin made the point that extremists are the only ones who benefit from their brutality, while ordinary citizens pay the price.
In response Abu Arar said that the situation was very worrying and could get out of hand. He had experienced the uprisings of rebellious young people all his life, he said, noting that such rebellion was a sign that they were not being heeded, and that there is no provision for their needs.
Relating to the popular Israeli watchword that every challenge is both an opportunity and a risk, Abu Arar declared that Israel is on a dangerous path that could lead to civil war and the destruction of all that Arabs and Jews have built together.
Rivlin was in a similar frame of mind, as he urged participants to take a more decisive role. “Our home is on fire, and we don’t have another one,” he said.
Rivlin later went to the Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon where victims of rocket attacks and of violence between Jews and Arabs are being treated.
In Jerusalem, Herzog Medical Center, at the request of the Health Ministry, opened a second department in its new Medical Pavilion to accept patients from hospitals in the south of the country, so as to free up space in the south for people injured in missile attacks. More than twenty patients requiring respiratory or rehabilitative care have been transferred from the south to Herzog, and others are also being cared for in hospitals in the capital.