There is significant coverage this morning of yesterday’s election of Likud MK Reuven Rivlin as the next President of Israel. In a second round of voting by Knesset members, Rivlin defeated the Hatnuah Party candidate and former Finance Minister Meir Sheetrit by 10 votes. The Telegraph describes Rivlin as a “hardliner” due to his personal opposition to a two-state solution. However, Rivlin has repeatedly said he would not intervene in the decisions of Israel’s elected politicians. The Independent describes Rivlin as a “staunch nationalist” but also an “ardent democrat” due to his virulent defence of minority rights and the Knesset’s independence. The Guardian says that Rivlin’s victory was a defeat for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who nominally backed his fellow Likud MK but is widely reported to have deep antipathy towards Rivlin. The Times says that a “hawk” has replaced a “dove” in the form of Shimon Peres as Israel’s President. The Guardian online includes a profile of Peres, who will stand down from office next month.

The online edition of the Guardian also includes an interview with Israeli author and prominent Haaretz columnist Ari Shavit about his recent acclaimed book “My Promised Land.” Shavit argues for an end to Israel’s occupation of parts of the West Bank, but at the same time says that the world must not lose sight of Israel and Zionism’s “phenomenal success.”

The Times says that Ayatollah Mahdavi Kani is on a life support machine. Kani is the chairman of Iran’s assembly of experts, which among other things, selects the country’s supreme leader. The article predicts that Kani’s demise will lead to a crucial power struggle over his successor between the conservative supporters of current Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and the more moderate supporters of former President Ali Akbar Rafsanjani.

The Guardian online reports that Egypt’s new President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has ordered firmer action over sexual assaults following an attack on a woman in Tahrir Square during celebrations which marked al-Sisi’s election victory.

In the Israeli media, all dailies are dominated by yesterday’s election of Reuven Rivlin as Israel’s next president. Israel Hayom and Yediot Ahronot both lead with the simple headline, “President Rivlin,” it is also the top story in Haaretz, Makor Rishon and Maariv, whose headline quotes Rivlin himself who said yesterday “I’m a man of everyone.”

Writing in Yediot Ahronot, Nahum Barnea says that Rivlin’s victory is in large part because his “heart is in the right place,” evidenced by his distinguished service as Knesset Speaker and on the Knesset Finance Committee. Ben Caspit in Maariv says that Rivlin’s election was also down to the efforts of Likud MKs Gideon Saar and Haim Katz plus Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “who managed to all bring all his enemies together to support Rivlin.” Makor Rishon speculates that many ultra-Orthodox MKs voted for Rivlin as an act of opposition against Netanyahu. Meanwhile, Israel Radio news reports that US President Obama congratulated Rivlin on his election.

In other news, Israel Hayom says that former-IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi and his wife will be questioned by police over the so-called Harpaz Affair, during which a forged document was used as part of a bitter battle between Ashkenazi’s office and that of then-Defence Minister Ehud Barak. Israel Radio news reports that Cabinet Secretary Avichai Mandelblit was questioned in connection with the affair as he is apparently suspected of having known about the document but failing to report it when he served as Advocate General.