'We need to stop talking and engage in action'

"Flames are engulfing our land. Flames of violence, flames of hatred, flames of false faith that distorts and lies. Flames that condone bloodshed in the name of the Torah, in the name of Jewish law, in the name of morals, in the name of love for the land of Israel.

"On the eve of Tu B'Av, the day of love, six Israeli citizens were cruelly stabbed in the heart of Jerusalem. Much to our horror and shame, the bloodbath -- the quest of hatred and murder -- did not stop there. That same night, Jewish terrorists burned the home of the Dawabsha family in the village of Duma, murdering the baby Ali Saad Dawabsha and seriously injuring his 4-year-old brother, father and mother.

"I visited the Dawabsha family at the hospital on Friday. I visited in silence. I was ashamed. I was terrified by the power of hatred. I was ashamed that in a state that experienced the murders of Shalhevet Pass, the Fogel family, Adele Biton, Eyal, Gil-ad and Naftali and Muhammad Abu Khdeir there are still those who don't hesitate before lighting a fire and burning a baby's flesh, turning up the hatred and the terror.

"Every society has its extreme fringes, but today we need to ask ourselves: What is it about the public atmosphere that gives the zealots the feeling that they can strut safely in the mainstream? What made it so that these weeds are threatening the well-being of the entire field?

"In order to stamp out the flames we must be determined and decisive, thorough and clear, starting with our education system, through our law enforcement and all the way to the leaders at the helm of the state. Today, Israel the democratic and Jewish state needs a wake-up call. Israel of the Declaration of Independence, of the vision of Israel's prophets, of compassion and grace.

"We will not be zealots. We will not be bullies. We will not be an anarchy. The State of Israel was and will continue to be a state of law, liberty, tolerance and justice. The State of Israel was and will continue to be our home. Everyone's home."

--Written by President Reuven Rivlin on Facebook, Aug. 1, 2015.

A year has passed since Reuven Rivlin entered the President's Residence, and the festive interview, scheduled months in advance, took a sad turn in light of the recent events in Duma and at the Gay Pride Parade last week. The "No. 1 citizen" as the president is often called, who rushed to speak up for the rule of law and comfort the families of the victims, was strongly urged to file a police complaint this week following death threats made against him on social media.

"I didn't spend any time reading the threats online," he says. "Sadly, I was notified in other ways."

Q: Were you surprised-

"These things are not new to me. It saddens me to encounter such words from people who, I am sure, would not say such things if they met me and had a reasonable conversation with me."

Q: Do you fear for your life?

"No. Because our best citizens, good strong men, are always around me. Regardless, I am convinced that the people responsible for these things in the police and the Shin Bet security agency can overcome any threat that proves to be real and not just empty words."

Q: In your first address as president you said that you get threats from the public for loving Arabs.

"The truth is that I am so busy during the day that I only know when they tell me that there are tweets in the ... I don't know. What is it called-"

Q. Twitter ...

"Right. Twitter. So there are twitters and comments and likes and mikes. Just as there are threatening ones, there are also nice ones. I know where these things come from because sadly, there are people among us who think that we have to fight the whole world. Who in the world would think that a Jew who has finally achieved sovereignty in his homeland, whose dreams have truly come true, would burn churches? Burn mosques? Burn synagogues-

"I was just at the cemetery in the Mount of Olives, where there are vandals who shatter headstones. I remember the sight of my family's vandalized headstones when Jerusalem was liberated and we could go to the Mount of Olives in 1967, the vandalism there. They simply destroy the foundations that the whole world understands, that the State of Israel is both a value and a thing that exists."

Q: Who do you think is responsible for the violent tailspin we are experiencing?

"I don't want to point an accusatory finger at anyone. I want to call on people to take responsibility. That refers to each one of us. We need to stop talking, stop condemning, stop thinking that words alone are enough. We need to engage in action, dialogue, the ability to disagree without it threatening anyone's life here."

Q: Isn't it a little late for that-

"I think that there is chasm between the different 'tribes' in Israeli society. This chasm will only grow deeper unless we take action to unite. We need to understand that we live in an age when there is no longer a majority and minorities. We all become the majority -- haredim (ultra-Orthodox), national-religious Jews, secular Jews, Arabs. We are all Israelis. We are all responsible for the Israeli hope. There is a lot of alienation between us and the way to bridge the gaps is through dialogue, meeting and creating common ground.

"I certainly believe that things can be repaired. We need to be more attentive to one another. As a people, we grew out of contention. We have to be able to disagree out of mutual respect and in awe of the words that come out of our mouths. I too have taken it upon myself to try to reweave the delicate threads that can begin to repair our worn edges. It takes time and patience, but above all it requires faith in our ability, as partners, to make the effort necessary to discover and expand our common ground."

* * *

Rivlin, 76, is Israel's 10th president. Despite his pleasant personality and polite conduct, his first year in office is turning out to be one of the stormiest years any Israeli president has known. It began with Operation Protective Edge in Gaza, continued with a general election and the controversy surrounding the Iran nuclear agreement, and along the way we got the deepening rift between Jews and Arabs, between secular and religious Jews, between the Left and the Right, between Culture Minister Miri Regev and Israeli artists. And then came the events of last week.

In this complicated year, Rivlin proved that he truly is everyone's president. He is perceived as down to earth, but not too plebeian; a warm man who is attentive to the people's feelings; a scrupulous man of principles who elicits accolades even from his political rivals. Since he is my president too, I made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem to meet him and hear from him how he would sum up his first year in office.

Our first encounter was before the recent saddening events and before the recent death of his beloved sister. The toddler Ali Dawabsha was still playing in his crib and teenager Shira Banki was still enjoying her summer vacation. The atmosphere was still pleasant.

The diligent photographer Ziv Koren, who woke up early and photographed the president during his morning walk in the mountains, came back out of breath and reported that Rivlin is in excellent shape. I am glad to report that I did not accompany them on their early morning hike. Goat trails and the July-August heat just don't do it for me.

But I can say that the president was in great spirits that day. He was full of energy and vitality. I suppose that it was because he was so pleased to meet me. After all, very few presidents have had that great privilege, to sit with me for almost two hours and hear me talk about things that I know nothing about.

If I'm being honest, the real reason I met with the president was to convince him to hold an annual rock concert in his yard, the same way they do in the U.S. Did he agree? Were there refreshments? Did the president politely ask me to leave at one point? I give you the answers to these questions and more:

* * *

Q: Do you feel that over the last year you have been successful in bringing the people of Israel closer together? Can it even be done-

"First of all, what I did succeed in doing was to raise awareness, even among those who think that it is each man for himself around here, that we are all here together. For better and for worse. We have our differences and those differences will continue to exist even if we ignore them. It is essential that we engage with each other and maintain a partnership despite our differences. Not because it is not nice, not because it is not done, but because these are the facts.

"The facts are that we live together. There are those who like it, and those who like it less, but that is the reality. In this reality, let's start looking at what is best for us: Is it better for us to build bridges or to radicalize and darken the mood in such a way that makes explosions inevitable -- that makes life impossible-"

Q: Can you understand the political Right's criticism toward you that you have shifted leftward?

"I know that some people say that I've changed. But for me, I am the same now as I was before. I have changed none of my views. [Ze'ev] Jabotinsky's Iron Wall, which many in the Left view as militant, and which right-wingers who never even read the Iron Wall followed to the letter, is still relevant in my view. The iron wall is not designed to attack the Arabs around us. It is meant as a defense, a strong fortress, with which we can stop those who don't want to see us flourish in our land.

"The nature of the iron wall makes it so that when you try to breach it all the time, you end up breaking your head because you can't break it. Jabotinsky said that we should leave a window at the top of the wall so that we can see whether the Arabs have grown tired of trying to chase us away from our land. When we see that they have indeed grown tired and learned to accept our presence here we will open the gates and welcome them.

"Jabotinsky said these things in 1923. He stressed that we cannot ignore the facts, because we will have to live together. He even spoke about the possibility that the state will be binational, with one prime minister. Of course he couldn't have seen what the future would bring. Even in his sweetest, most wonderful dreams he could not have imagined that in the year 2000 there would be 6 million Jews in Israel.

"Today the perception of Jabotinsky's followers is different. There are many who don't know exactly who Jabotinsky was. They think that he might be a backup player on the Beitar soccer team."

Q: Do you think we are doing enough to cultivate the idea of coexistence with the Arabs?

"Currently there is a situation of lack of trust, on both sides. The terrible tragedy is that if you ask my grandchildren -- or their friends, to be more accurate, because mine hear different stories from me -- 'What is evil-' they will say 'an Arab.' Ask an Arab child what is wickedness, he will say a Jew. One will say an Arab terrorist and one will say a Jewish soldier. This animosity wells up and gets into the blood from the moment a child is old enough to form an opinion.

"When you offer the Palestinians two states for two peoples and talk about autonomy, but demilitarized and weaker than Israel, for you it may be a no-brainer that they will agree, but there is not a single Arab leader who would agree. To wit, [Palestinian Authority President] Mahmoud Abbas went to the U.N. because he knew that he couldn't bring his people any agreement in which the Palestinian state is not exactly equal in power to Israel.

"Any peace agreement that brings us to part ways -- we won't be apart for long because at any moment someone will make the necessary provocations to ensure that we won't be able to live. Peace will only be achieved if our borders are open. Peace can only be achieved if we understand that we are two economies and two societies living one inside the other and side by side.

"If we come to understand that we were meant to live together, and that it is not some evil decree, there will be hope. First we need to build the bridges between ourselves and Israel's Arab citizens, the Israeli Palestinians, so that the other Palestinians see that it is possible to live with the Jews. Until we build trust between the Jewish and Arab populations in Israel, we will not be able to achieve peace.

"The problem is that the Arabs in Israel see themselves as Palestinian first, and only then Israeli. Their hope is that Israel will become a state of all its citizens [rather than a Jewish state]. They really want to be citizens with equal rights here, but first they have to accept the fact that the Jewish state is an existential necessity for us. Because without a Jewish state, without the Right of Return that allows any Jew to come to Israel, the State of Israel will cease to exist."

Q: Have you tried explaining that to their leaders?

"Certainly, but my feeling is that I will never convince them. We accept the fact that Arabs do not take part in the civilian mechanism. They don't serve in the military, and we don't force them to volunteer for national service because they object to the term 'national.' On the other hand, they don't object to [getting money from] the National Insurance Institution.

"Sometimes, when I want to tease them, I say to them: national insurance is fine but national service is not? As far as I'm concerned, let's drop the national and just call it public service and public insurance. If we want to convince the Palestinians that we can live in peace side by side, we must first bridge the enormous gap that exists between Jews and Arabs in this country. The Arabs have been deprived. That is true. Now is the time to change that."

Q: On the other hand, not everyone is in favor of integration. Some people would rather preserve their own, separate way of life. The Bedouin, for example.

"True. So I say this to them: 'My brothers, you want an agreement, but only one that will give you the entire Negev. You won't get that. Before making any agreement, we will make you understand that you can't be landowners and continue to be Bedouin.' The Bedouin need to understand that the moment they have land and property and are subject to possessory claims, they can't keep being Bedouin. I am in favor of a fair land agreement, but every agreement would mean a lifestyle change."

Q: Do you express your political views?

"Today, more and more influential figures from around the world come to me to hear my outlook. I only tell them that my personal opinions are far less relevant now, because [I represent] the state's opinion. The state's opinion manifests itself in the Knesset's decisions. Furthermore, the chairman of the Likud himself [Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] has said that he is in favor of two states for two peoples. These words come with an obligation.

"When there is an argument, it is imperative to argue, but ultimately a decision must be made, and that decision is made by the Knesset. Therefore, incidentally, I really believed I was performing an important job as Knesset speaker, not on behalf of the coalition but on behalf of Israeli democracy. So there were those who said to me, 'You'll pay a heavy price for this thing.' So if the possibility of not being appointed president is a heavy price, so be it, I accept the price. In the end I can be proud of the fact that with the exclusion of one faction, I had the support of all the factions [for my presidency bid]. That one faction was Balad, whom I did not ask to support me, because they don't want to live with us.

"Even today, when you look at the polls, the public mainly thinks that my outlook is not only legitimate, but perhaps also the right thing to do."

Q: What is your view regarding a presidential system in Israel?

"We can't have a system where a president is elected with much wider jurisdiction before we have a constitution that protects each and every one of us. Otherwise, a president would be able to hurt anyone -- withhold freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, etc. In general, it could bring about a situation where the minority could reject the majority.

"We saw that the minority, even if it is 59 to 61 as in Oslo II, bows its head to the will of the majority, even though they thought that Oslo was a disaster. Or the eviction of Gush Katif, which could have sparked a civil war had it taken place elsewhere in the world. The Gush residents were evicted, despite their mental anguish and that of many others in Israel -- at least 30% if not more.

"Therefore, with all these delicate situations, we first have to get to a place where the people understand the problems they face."

Q: How do you feel about capital punishment for terrorists?

"First of all, there is already capital punishment in Israel. ... We annoy each other to death.

"We need to understand that terrorists see themselves as freedom fighters. They call themselves martyrs, someone who gives his life to glorify his religion and his faith. He gets just rewards for it, of course, like the 72 virgins. I don't know why fewer virgins would not suffice, or why it is 72 and not 73, but OK. A martyr is a person who goes to commit suicide. So we need to consider whether to sentence a murderer of children to death. In the U.S. they do consider it. But the debate needs to be about the death penalty for murderers, not for terrorists, or Arabs, or blacks or whites.

"If we legislate a death penalty for terrorists, the three Jews who burned an Arab teen alive would automatically qualify for it too. We won't be able to explain why they are not executed. We need to know how to behave and how to live and how to abide by our Jewish principles."

Q: Critics said that your predecessor, Shimon Peres, was too involved in politics as president. Have you heard such criticism directed at you-

"No, not yet. Usually the people who complain about me are the people who feel that I should do exactly what they think. That is all. I get it. I never promised anyone that I would think like them. I haven't changed my mind."

Q: What is the nature of your relationship with the prime minister?

"The prime minister is the prime minister, and I was chosen president. The prime minister makes sure that I am up to speed on all the relevant issues, and I have to say that in that regard he, and his entire team, feel that keeping me in the loop is very important.

"They take into account that I was the Knesset speaker and such was privy to secrets, and that I was a member of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and the most important subcommittees, so it is easier for me to get up to speed. But I have to say that the prime minister freely consults with me, at times with great frequency. The prime minister was an excellent friend of mine. He really was a friend. Like a younger brother."

Q: What are your goals for the coming years? What would you consider a good presidential term-

"First and foremost that I will have my health, that I will continue to be vital in the next six years. Also, to achieve progress in the tasks that the President's Residence has taken upon itself, the way we did this year. This year we tried to get to a point where the heads of the Arab municipalities come to me, and that the haredim come to me, despite their criticism against me.

"I certainly think that we will have to continue forward to stages where we don't just talk about plans but also take concrete steps. I see almost 3,000 Arabs enlist in what I call 'community service.' They don't want to say 'national service' so let it be civil service or community service.

"I see more and more ultra-Orthodox Jews realizing that they don't have to give up their haredi lifestyle in order to integrate into the state institutions. I see more and more response on their part, more acceptance and less criticism against me when I say these things to them."

Q: What do you do in your spare time?

"If only I had spare time.

"I love watching Channel 8 [documentary channel] and lately there have been a number of good documentaries on Channel 1, but I don't want to name them because I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings. I love classical music. In the evening or at night when I'm really tired I listen to jazz on the radio."

Q: What kind of jazz-

"The hard jazz, the black jazz. I'm crazy about Benny Goodman and Satchmo. I like traveling from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv or back at 2 p.m. and listening to Israel Radio."

Q: What do they play-

"The songs we once loved. Songs from the 1950s and 1960s. I also go to the theater, with [my wife] Nechama mainly, in the evenings when I can. I love movies, and we recently attended the film festival."

Q: Are you still a vegetarian like you used to be-

"Of course. I love salad, fish, pasta once a week because we are always vigilant about our diet. Mainly I eat vegetables."

Q: Now, a few questions on the topic of truly unimportant issues.

"OK."

Q: What is one thing you would change about the people of Israel-

"They need to learn to laugh more."

Q: Is there a particular soccer match that stands out in your mind?

"Mexico City, 1970, Germany-Italy in the semi-finals of the World Cup. Nechama and I were right there on the field. At the end of the allotted time the score was a tie -- 1-1 -- and five goals were scored in overtime."

Q: Something about [Jerusalem soccer team] Beitar?

"The game when we played against Ramat Amidar for a spot in the national league, which we won 4-0. I fainted twice. And the championship game against Maccabi Tel Aviv in 1976. Bob Paisley, the legendary Liverpool manager, was a commentator on Channel 1, and he said, 'Unfortunately, my friend Ruvi is going to get severely beaten by Maccabi.' In the end we won 2-1 and he said: 'I heard that the land of the Jewish people is a land of miracles, but I could never really foresee the ability of Beitar to beat Maccabi Tel Aviv.'"

Q: If you weren't president of Israel, where would you want to be president-

"I wouldn't want to be president anywhere else in the world. Only in Israel."

Q: Do you feel a connection with any other president? Berlusconi, Merkel, Obama-

"Actually, with [former Israeli President] Yitzhak Navon. He was both a cultural figure and a politician. Also a Jerusalemite. He really was not above the people, he was one of the people."

Q: What is your favorite room in the President's Residence?

"Our private living room."

Q: What is one sentence that accompanies you in everything you do?

"[Former Prime Minister] Menachem Begin used to say, 'It is important to state the obvious from time to time, and even to write it down.' There are so many things that are so obvious that they have become not obvious at all. It is a life-changing sentence."

Q: If you were not a politician, what would you be?

"I've been an artist all my life, and I think that the ability to express yourself artistically is one of the things that makes a person the happiest."

Q: I'll second that. In conclusion, I have a suggestion: Why not hold an annual rock concert at the President's Residence-

"Sure. With lots of love."

Q: So how do we do this. Here?

"What's the problem? You organize it, and we'll do it."

Q: We can bring soldiers to dance.

"Why not? We have an excellent space here in the yard. The stage is set up anyway. No problem."

Q: What about the neighbors?

"We'll invite them too. My neighbors are mostly students. And Yair, you didn't have any of the dates. Eat up. They're really delicious."