President of Israel
head of state of Israel From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The President of the State of Israel (Hebrew: נָשִׂיא מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, Nasi Medinat Yisra'el, or Hebrew: נָשִׂיא הַמְדִינָה, Nasi HaMedina, literally President of the State) is the head of state of Israel.
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The position is filled with executive power effectively being exercised by the Prime Minister. The current president is Isaac Herzog, who took office on 7 July 2021. Presidents are elected by the Knesset for a seven-year term and are limited to a single term.
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Background
Any Israeli resident citizen is eligible to run for President.
The first presidential election took place on 16 February 1949, and the winner was Chaim Weizmann.
Albert Einstein, a Jew but not an Israeli citizen, was offered the presidency in 1952[1] 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".[2] 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".[3]
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List of presidents
Living former presidents
As of 2021, there are two living former presidents:
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The most recent serving and former president to die was Shimon Peres in September 2016.
References
Other websites
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