Israeli President Reuven Rivlin

Parting Words from President Reuven Rivlin

Reuven Rivlin was elected President of Israel by the Knesset in June 2014. He will complete his seven year term in July 2021. As the head of state, he holds mainly ceremonial powers. His most important role, in practice, is to help lead in the process of forming a government. After an election, he consults with party leaders to determine who is most likely to achieve a majority in the Knesset. He is doing that at this very moment. Rivlin was born in Jerusalem to a family that had lived in Israel since 1809. His father, Yosef Yoel Rivlin, was a scholar of Arabic language and literature. His political career began in in the Knesset in 1988 as a member of the Likud party. He was a speaker of the Knesset for eight years. In 2015,...

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The Israelization of Judaism: An Interview with Yossi Shain

Yossi Shain is a Professor of Political Science at Tel Aviv University and a Professor of Comparative Government and Diaspora Politics at Georgetown University. His most recent book, The Israeli Century and the Israelization of Judaism, is currently a bestseller in Israel and will come out in English in 2020. Moment senior editor Laurence Wolff interviewed Shain in Tel Aviv. 

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Interview | Yuval Harari

Born in Haifa to Eastern European immigrants, Harari now lives with his husband in a moshav outside Jerusalem. A vegan deeply distressed by the suffering of domesticated animals, Harari meditates daily (plus a 60-day silent retreat each year). He does this, he says, to understand more fully the nature of human consciousness and “human dissatisfaction.” Moment talks with Harari about the role of technology in politics and the rise of big data, as well as topics Harari does not usually discuss, such as Judaism and Israel.

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