President of Israel

The President of the State of Israel (, Nasi Medinat Yisra'el, or , Nasi HaMedina, literally President of the State) is the head of state of Israel.

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.

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 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". 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".

List of presidents

Living former presidents
As of 2021, there are two living former presidents:

The most recent serving and former president to die was Shimon Peres in September 2016.

References

Other websites
Official website