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{{Short description|Head of state of Israel}}
{{Infobox official post
| post = President
| body = the State of Israel
| insignia = Presidential Standard of IsraelSquare.svg{{!}}border
| insigniasize = 100px
| insigniacaption = Presidential standard
| native_name = {{Script/Hebrew|נשיא מדינת ישראל}}
| image = Isaac Herzog, July 2021 (D1233-049).JPG
| imagesize = 200px
| incumbent = [[Isaac Herzog]]
| incumbentsince = 7 July 2021
| style = [[Excellency|His Excellency]]
| residence = [[Beit HaNassi]]
| appointer = [[Knesset]]
| termlength = {{nowrap|Seven years, non-renewable}}
| salary = [[USD|US$]]173,255 annually<ref name="igcompaycheck">{{cite web|url=https://www.ig.com/uk/forex/research/pay-check|title=IG.com Pay Check|publisher=IG}}</ref>
| formation = 16 February 1949
| deputy = [[List of Knesset speakers|Speaker of the Knesset]]
| inaugural = [[Chaim Weizmann]]
| website = [http://www.president.gov.il/English/Pages/english.aspx Israel presidential website]
}}{{Politics of Israel}}

The '''president of the State of Israel''' ({{lang-he|נְשִׂיא מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל|Nesi Medinat Yisra'el}}, or {{lang-he|נְשִׂיא הַמְדִינָה|Nesi HaMedina|President of the State}}) is the [[head of state]] of [[Israel]]. The position is largely a ceremonial role,<ref>[http://www.president.gov.il/defaults/default_en.asp The Presidency in Israel] President of Israel.</ref> with executive power vested in the [[Cabinet of Israel|cabinet]] led by the [[Prime Minister of Israel|prime minister]]. The incumbent president is [[Isaac Herzog]], who took office on 7 July 2021. Presidents are elected by the [[Knesset]] for a single seven-year term.

==Election==
The President of Israel is elected by an [[absolute majority]] in the [[Knesset]], by [[secret ballot]]. If no candidate receives an absolute majority of votes in the first or second round of voting, the candidate with the least votes is eliminated in each subsequent round, if needed until only two remain.<ref>{{cite web|title=Loi fondamentale|url=https://mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFA-Archive/1960-1969/Pages/Basic%20Law-%20The%20President%20of%20the%20State.aspx|website=mfa.gov.il|access-date=23 December 2020}}.</ref> From 1949 to 2000, the president was elected for a five-year term, and was allowed to serve up to two terms in office. Since 2000, the president serves a single seven-year term.

Any Israeli resident citizen is eligible to run for president. The office falls vacant upon completion of a term, death, resignation, or the decision of three-quarters of the Knesset to remove the president on grounds of misconduct or incapacity. Presidential tenure is not keyed to that of the Knesset, in order to assure continuity in government and the non-partisan character of the office. There is no [[vice president]] in the Israeli governmental system. If the president is temporarily incapacitated, or leaves office, the [[List of Knesset speakers|speaker of the Knesset]] becomes [[Acting (law)|acting]] president.

The [[1949 Israeli presidential election|first presidential election]] took place on 16 February 1949, and the winner was [[Chaim Weizmann]]. The [[1951 Israeli presidential election|second]] took place in 1951, as at the time presidential terms were linked to the length of the Knesset term (the [[1949 Israeli legislative election|first Knesset]] lasted only two years). [[1952 Israeli presidential election|Another election]] took place the following year after Weizmann's death.

Since then, elections have been held in [[1957 Israeli presidential election|1957]], [[1962 Israeli presidential election|1962]], [[1963 Israeli presidential election|1963]] (an early election following [[Yitzhak Ben-Zvi]]'s death), [[1968 Israeli presidential election|1968]], [[1973 Israeli presidential election|1973]], [[1978 Israeli presidential election|1978]], [[1983 Israeli presidential election|1983]], [[1988 Israeli presidential election|1988]], [[1993 Israeli presidential election|1993]], [[1998 Israeli presidential election|1998]], [[2000 Israeli presidential election|2000]], [[2007 Israeli presidential election|2007]], [[2014 Israeli presidential election|2014]], and [[2021 Israeli presidential election|2021]]{{Update after|2028|07|09}}. Six elections (1951, 1957, 1962, 1968, 1978, and 1988) have taken place with no opposition candidate, although a vote was still held.

[[Isaac Herzog]] was [[2021 Israeli presidential election|elected 11th President on 2 June 2021]].<ref>{{Cite news|title=יצחק הרצוג נבחר לנשיא ה-11 של מדינת ישראל| url=https://www.ynet.co.il/news/article/r1Ye3TN900|access-date=2021-06-02 |website=ynet|language=he|last1=אזולאי |first1=מורן |last2=נחשוני |first2=קובי |last3=שומפלבי |first3=אטילה |last4=כהן |first4=גלעד }}</ref> His term started on 9 July.<ref>[https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/voting-begins-in-race-for-president-watch-669876 Isaac Herzog elected 11th President of the State of Israel by wide margin]</ref>

==Powers and responsibilities==
[[File:Office of the President of Israel by David Shankbone.jpg|thumb|left|Office of the President of Israel (2007)]]
The powers of the President of Israel are generally equivalent to those held by heads of state in other parliamentary democracies and are largely dictated by [[Basic Laws of Israel|Basic Law: The Presidency]],<ref name=F>{{cite web| url= http://www.president.gov.il/defaults/default_en.asp |title= The Function and Purpose of the Presidency| publisher= Office of the President of Israel| website=president.gov.il}}</ref> which was passed in 1964.<ref>{{cite web| url= https://www.knesset.gov.il/description/eng/eng_mimshal_yesod1.htm |title= The Existing Basic Laws: Full Texts| website= knesset.gov.il| publisher= Knesset (parliament of Israel)}}</ref> The Basic Law: The Government also includes sections on the powers of the president with reference to the [[Cabinet of Israel|government]].<ref name=F/> The president signs every law (except those that pertain to the president's powers) and international or bilateral treaties approved by the Knesset.<ref name=F/> In addition, the president endorses the credentials of ambassadors and receives the credentials of foreign diplomats, appoints the Governor of the [[Bank of Israel]], the [[State Comptroller of Israel|State Comptroller]] upon recommendation of the Knesset House Committee, members of the Council on Higher Education, the National Academy of Science, the Broadcasting Authority, the Authority to Rehabilitate Prisoners, the Chief Rabbinical Council, the [[Wolf Foundation]], the president of [[Magen David Adom]], the president of the [[Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities]], and ceremonially appoints the [[Prime Minister of Israel|Prime Minister]]. The president also has the power to pardon or commute the sentences of both soldiers and civilians, and ceremonially appoints judges to courts, including the [[Supreme Court of Israel|Supreme Court]], after appointment by the [[Judicial Selection Committee (Israel)|Judicial Selection Committee]].

In addition, paragraph 29a of ''The Government'' basic law also states that the president must consent to the dissolution of the Knesset at the request of the Prime Minister when the government has lost its majority and can therefore no longer function effectively.<ref name=F/>

Unlike most presidents in parliamentary republics, the President of Israel is not even the ''nominal'' chief executive. [[Basic Law: The Government]] explicitly vests executive power in the Government (as the Cabinet is officially called). Presidential powers are usually exercised based on the recommendation of appropriate government ministers.

The president's most important role, in practice, is to help lead the process of forming a government. Israel's electoral system and fractured political landscape make it all but impossible for one party to govern alone, let alone win an outright majority of Knesset seats. After each election, the president consults with party leaders to determine who is most likely to command a majority in the Knesset.

===Other roles===
The president awards the [[Israel Prize]] on [[Yom Ha'atzmaut]] and the [[Wolf Prize]]. The president also serves as the main speaker at the opening ceremonies of the half-yearly [[Knesset]] conference, as well as at the annual official ceremonies for [[Yom Hazikaron]] and [[Yom HaShoah]].

==Presidential backgrounds==
Most Israeli presidents were involved in national politics or [[Zionism|Zionist]] activities before taking office. Some were also distinguished in other fields. For example, [[Chaim Weizmann]] was a leading research chemist who founded the [[Weizmann Institute of Science]] in [[Rehovot]]; [[Zalman Shazar]] was an author, poet, and journalist; and [[Chaim Herzog]] was a military leader, attorney, and diplomat.

The first Israeli presidents were born in the former [[Russian Empire]]. The first native-born president, as well as the first with a [[Sephardi Jews|Sephardi]] background, was [[Yitzhak Navon]]. The first president with a Western European background was [[Chaim Herzog]], who originally came from [[Belfast]], [[United Kingdom]]. The first president with a [[Mizrahi Jews|Mizrahi]] background was [[Moshe Katsav]], who was born in [[Iran]].

==Political affiliation==
All Israeli presidents from [[Yitzhak Ben-Zvi]] to [[Ezer Weizman]] were members of, or associated with, the [[Israeli Labor Party|Labor Party]] and its predecessors, and have been considered politically moderate. [[Moshe Katsav]] was the first [[Likud]] president. These tendencies were especially significant in the April 1978 election of Labor's [[Yitzhak Navon]], following the inability of the governing Likud coalition to elect its candidate to the presidency. Israeli observers believed that,{{Citation needed}} in counterbalance to Prime Minister [[Menachem Begin]]'s polarizing leadership, Navon, the country's first president of [[Sephardi]] origin, provided Israel with unifying symbolic leadership at a time of great political controversy and upheaval. In 1983, Navon decided to re-enter Labor politics after five years of non-partisan service as president, and [[Chaim Herzog]] (previously head of military intelligence and [[Israel Ambassador to the United Nations|Ambassador of Israel to the United Nations]]) succeeded him as Israel's sixth president. Likud's [[Moshe Katsav]]'s victory over Labor's [[Shimon Peres]] in 2000 (by secret ballot) was an [[Upset (competition)|upset]].

[[Albert Einstein]], a Jew, but not an Israeli citizen, was offered the presidency in 1952,<ref name=offer>{{cite web| url= https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Politics/einsteinlet.html| title= (Letter reprinted online) Offering the Presidency of Israel to Albert Einstein| date= 17 November 1952| first= Abba| last= Eban| author-link= Abba Eban| website= JewishVirtualLibrary.org| access-date= 18 October 2016}}</ref> but turned it down, stating: "I am deeply moved by the offer from our State of Israel, and at once saddened and ashamed that I cannot accept it. All my life I have dealt with objective matters, hence I lack both the natural aptitude and the experience to deal properly with people and to exercise official functions."<ref>{{cite web| url= https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Quote/Einstein_On_Presidency.html |title= Albert Einstein on His Decision Not to Accept the Presidency of Israel| website= JewishVirtualLibrary.org| publisher= citing The Einstein Scrapbook (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002)| access-date= 18 October 2016}}</ref> [[Ehud Olmert]] was reported to be considering offering the presidency to another non-Israeli, [[Elie Wiesel]], but he was said to be "very not interested".<ref>{{cite news| url= http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Olmert-backs-Peres-as-next-president |title= Olmert backs Peres as next president| first1= Gil| last1= Stern Stern Hoffman |first2= Herb |last2= Keinon| work= [[Jerusalem Post]]| date= 18 October 2006}}</ref>

==List of presidents of the State of Israel==
{{Main|List of presidents of Israel}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.gov.il/en/departments/president_of_the_state_of_israel Gov.il: President of the State of Israel Official website]
*[http://www.knesset.gov.il/president/eng/main_eng.htm Knesset.gov.il: President of the State of Israel Official website]

{{Israelpres}}
{{Israeli presidential elections}}
{{Use dmy dates}}

[[Category:Presidents of Israel| ]]
[[Category:Presidents by country|Israel]]
[[Category:1949 establishments in Israel]]

President of Israel - Revision history

Wikimaniac at 04:04, 28 January 2023