For many years, and especially during my tenure as chairman of the Jewish Agency, I have been meeting with people who immigrate to Israel.
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I always try to find out what made them leave the country where they built their lives, change everything, and come to a place with a new language, a different climate and even different tastes – to relocate to a new, complex and challenging country.
I'm familiar, of course, with the reasons of previous generations, like my parents. But why would young people, with the whole world open to them, want to move to Israel when they have other alternatives?
Most of them have a clear answer: they know the difficulties, are aware of the problems and challenges, but at the end of the day, their hearts beat with the same fire known for generations: this is the state of the Jewish people, their national homeland, where every Jew can feel safe, free and proud.
We are committed and commanded to guard this unique land against any internal disputes and rifts that could eat away at us. We have waited for thousands of years to get this far.
On these fronts, the domestic and the global, the president plays a special and unique role, a role inherent in the national subconscious, in our psychology. The president is required to exercise restraint, alongside statesmanship and political experience.
The president must have deep familiarity with all state institutions and their mechanism, as well as an understanding of the various sectors of Israeli society and the various groups in the Diaspora.
The president is required to resolve political disputes, know how to reach out, support, and embrace each and every citizen, while in the same breath present a decisive position to the whole world and its leaders in the international arena.
The presidency should promote inclusive activity, strengthen Israel's ties with Diaspora Jewry, and allow Jews everywhere to feel that they has a warm home in this country, no matter where they are. All eyes are on the president when there is a need to advocate for Israel on the world stage.
Years of public service and deep familiarity with all walks of Israeli society, as well as in-depth familiarity with Jewish communities around the world, have brought me to this moment, where I seek the trust of the Knesset and the public to represent us internationally.
I seek to serve as a bridge of reconciliation between all parts of society; to enable a respectful dialogue between all ethnicities, sectors, beliefs, and perceptions; to represent Israel worldwide, to stand by world Jewry vis-à-vis rising antisemitism, and for the state to continue to strive to be a model for all nations.
For all these, I will work tirelessly.
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