In pictures: MKs from across the spectrum back Rivlin during backlash

In a solidarity campgaine created by Zionist Union MK Revital Swid - Israeli politicians Left Right and Center show support to the President.

NOVEMBER 20, 2017 21:48

Updated: NOVEMBER 20, 2017 22:26

President Reuven Rivlin speaking at the Rabin memorial service (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST) — President Reuven Rivlin speaking at the Rabin memorial service

(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)

Following President Reuven Rivlin's decision not to pardon IDF soldier Elor Azaria who shot a subdued terrorist in Hebron in March 2016, some of the Israeli public hotly contested the presidential decision, many arguing that Azaria should receive lenient treatment and many others backing the president and his support of the IDF rules of engagement, which decree it is illegal to shoot a person that is no longer a threat.

An image of Rivlin dressed in an Arab head garment quickly appeared online and in print, suggesting the president somehow "supports" Palestinians and not Israelis.

Such visuals were also created during the Oslo Peace accord process, featuring the prime minister at the time, Yitzhak Rabin, who was assassinated in 1995.

Rabin's murder led many in Israel to be sensitive to incitement, and the re-surfacing of the old visual political props led to a wave of support by MK's from all political sides.

Created by Zionist Union MK Revital Swid, the campaign shows politicians photographed holding a sign in Hebrew saying "Standing alongside President Rivlin, #Saying no more to inciting speech."