My fellow citizens of Israel: I am very concerned about the difficult scenes we are witnessing on the streets. I call and plead with all leaders, citizens, parents—do everything in your power to stop the terrible thing that is happening.
We are currently amid the danger of rocket fire, yet are dealing with civil war for no reason. There are people who need to let the police take care of things. Please stop this crazy madness.
I call on all the rioters—stop and do not make things worse; we are one society, one country. It’s time to calm the public. Religious leaders, local leaders, ministers, Knesset members—we all need to wake up to the same country, the same jobs. These things are getting worse and, God forbid, we could lose what we have created, the State of Israel.
Ours is not a simple country, but we have educated ourselves, despite the differences of opinion, among all parts of the nation. All of these things need to remain in the realm of debate. God forbid we become enemies. There is a war between civilians. The country belongs to us all.
How hard was it for us to overcome and establish such a wonderful country. Sometimes there are arguments, but it is our job to let the army do its job and let the police make sure there is quiet.
You can argue, but to get to this point? To the sights we see? I call out to the whole of Israeli society, to the silent majority—let us shout a cry, from our homes, cities, synagogues and mosques: Stop it. We live here. This is our future. There is no other way.
I call on and plead with all leaders, citizens, parents: Do everything you can to stop this terrible thing that is happening.
Reuven Rivlin is the president of the State of Israel.
This article first appeared in Israel Hayom.