Short answer: Yes. Reuven Rivlin, Israel's tenth president (2014-2021), has a consistent public record of full identification with the Jewish state: born and raised in Jerusalem to a family present there for generations, decades in Zionist and right-of-center Israeli politics, and post-presidency advocacy on behalf of hostages taken in the October 7, 2023 attack and their return. He is alive as of this research. As of August 2026.
What Reuven Rivlin has actually said and done
September 9, 1939: Rivlin was born in Jerusalem's Rechavia neighborhood under the British Mandate, into a family that traced its presence in the city back roughly seven generations, an ancestor, R' Hillel Rivlin, settled in Jerusalem in 1809. His personal identity has long been tied to Jerusalem and to Zionist history, as documented by Wikipedia.
2003 to 2013 (two non-consecutive terms): Rivlin served twice as Speaker of the Knesset. During this period he was recognized for defending parliamentary democracy, and notably for defending the rights of Arab-Israeli lawmakers even when it was politically unpopular, including opposing calls to remove Balad MK Haneen Zoabi in 2010. This is covered by Wikipedia and corroborated by the Times of Israel.
July 2014 to July 2021: Rivlin served as the tenth President of the State of Israel, the ceremonial head-of-state role representing the country domestically and abroad, per Wikipedia.
February 12, 2018: Speaking at the pro-settlement B'Sheva Jerusalem Conference, Rivlin backed full Israeli annexation of the West Bank on the condition that Palestinian residents there receive full Israeli citizenship, saying, "when we extend sovereignty on our country, all of its residents will become citizens of the state," as reported by the Times of Israel.
August 17, 2025: As former president, Rivlin visited a hostage families' gathering in Jerusalem during the period when hostages were still being held, and called the campaign for their return an apolitical national cause, saying, "This here is not, and I did not come to, a political demonstration." The visit was reported by the Times of Israel.
November 25, 2024: Rivlin said that bringing home the hostages held by Hamas was a "must," citing polling that showed over 80 percent of Israelis agreed, and pointed to the Netanyahu-era 2011 Gilad Shalit deal as precedent for prioritizing hostages' return. This was reported by The Jewish Chronicle.
Who is Reuven Rivlin
Reuven "Ruvi" Rivlin (born September 9, 1939) is a lawyer and Likud-aligned politician whose career spans decades of Israeli public life: Knesset member, twice Speaker of the Knesset, and Israel's tenth president from 2014 to 2021. He is a seventh-generation Jerusalemite from a family with deep roots in the city predating the state itself, and his personal identity is closely bound up with Jerusalem and Zionist history.
Politically he sits on the nationalist right, and while president he publicly backed full Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank, provided Palestinian residents there would receive full Israeli citizenship rather than being annexed without rights. Alongside that hawkish territorial stance, he built a record, especially as Knesset Speaker, of defending the parliamentary rights of Arab-Israeli lawmakers and of visiting Arab-Israeli communities such as Umm el-Fahm, a combination that made him a somewhat unusual voice: firmly Zionist and pro-settlement in instinct, but insistent on civic inclusion for Israel's Arab minority.
Since leaving the presidency in 2021 he has remained a public voice on Israeli unity and security matters. During the Israel-Hamas war that began after the October 7, 2023 attack, and while hostages were still held in Gaza, Rivlin visited hostage-families' gatherings in Jerusalem and publicly framed their return as a non-partisan national obligation. The hostage crisis is now resolved: the last living hostages returned under the October 2025 ceasefire, and the remains of the final hostage came home in January 2026. Rivlin's documented comments predate that resolution and reflect the period when the campaign for the hostages' return was still active.
The bottom line
Reuven Rivlin's full public record, from his Jerusalem-rooted family history through decades in Israeli politics, his presidency, and his post-presidency advocacy for the hostages, shows a consistent, deep identification with the State of Israel and Jewish national life. He supports Israel.
Carry that same pride with you
Stories like Rivlin's, a life rooted in Jerusalem and spent in service of the Jewish state, are part of why so many people want a visible, everyday way to show where they stand. Our Support Israel collection includes pieces like the I Stand With Israel bracelet, a simple, wearable way to carry that same connection to Israel with you.
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Last updated August 2026. We update these profiles as the record changes.
