Presidential swearing-in to be modest affair as Protective Edge continues

Yesh Atid asks for Knesset summer recess to be delayed until operation in Gaza ends.

By LAHAV HARKOV
Netanyahu, Peres and Rivlin (photo credit: REUTERS)
Netanyahu, Peres and Rivlin
(photo credit: REUTERS)
President-elect Reuven Rivlin will be sworn in as president in a more modest ceremony than usual on Thursday, in light of Operation Protective Edge.
Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein and Rivlin agreed on Sunday morning to hold a more limited swearing-in event.
Edelstein and Rivlin said in a joint statement, "while IDF soldiers are fighting and citizens of Israel are under threat from rockets, we think the ceremony should take place in a more modest and limited format.
"We support the IDF in its holy mission to bring quiet and calm to all residents of Israel, as soon as possible," they said.
There will be no change in the date of Rivlin's swearing-in or the procedure in the Knesset's plenum.
In addition, there will be an honor guard ceremony for Rivlin at the square in front of the Knesset.
However, the planned cocktail party in the Knesset's Chagall Hall is canceled.
Meanwhile, Yesh Atid lawmakers called on the Knesset to cancel its summer recess, which is set to commence at the beginning of August.
MK Ronen Hoffman, representing the Yesh Atid faction, wrote a letter to Edelstein asking that he delay the recess by at least a week.
"The chain of security events that began with the kidnapping and murder of three boys, may their memory be a blessing, and continues in these moments with Operation Protective Edge, disrupted the Knesset plenum's schedule and that of committees," Hoffman wrote.
According to Hoffman, while Israelis are courageously continuing their routine despite rocket fire and other threats, the Knesset must take their example and make sure elected officials' work continues as normally as possible.