Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon came to the defense of President Reuven Rivlin on Friday, denouncing critics who “unleashed a barrage of epithets and curses” in response to Rivlin's conciliatory messages to the non-Jewish minority in Israel. “The president described to me the harsh language and cursing which he has absorbed because of his choice to be everyone's president, a true democrat, a model individual who looks at everyone as equals irrespective of religion, race, and gender,” Ya'alon wrote on his Facebook page. “When I heard Rivlin's descriptions of these reactions, I was ashamed,” the defense minister wrote. “I was ashamed that we have within our midst those who permit themselves to express themselves in such a manner toward the president and to any other human being.”
