| President of the State of Israel | |
|---|---|
| Hebrew:נשיא מדינת ישראל Arabic:رئيس دولة إسرائيل | |
.svg) Presidential standard | |
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| Style | His Excellency |
| Residence | Beit HaNassi |
| Appointer | Knesset |
| Term length | Seven years, non renewable |
| Constituting instrument | Constitution of Israel (1950) |
| Inaugural holder | Chaim Weizmann |
| Formation | 16 February 1949 |
| Deputy | Speaker of the Knesset |
| Salary | US$173,255 annually[1] |
| Website | Israel presidential website |
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Thepresident of the State of Israel (Hebrew:נְשִׂיא מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל,romanized: Nesi Medinat Yisra'el, orHebrew:נְשִׂיא הַמְדִינָה,romanized: Nesi HaMedinaArabic:رئيس دولة إسرائيل,romanized: Ra'īs Daūlat Isrāʾīl,lit. 'President of the State') is thehead of state ofIsrael. The president is mostly, though not entirely, ceremonial; actual executive power is vested in thecabinet led by theprime minister. The incumbent president isIsaac Herzog, who took office on 7 July 2021. Presidents are elected by theKnesset for a single seven-year term.
The president of Israel is elected by anabsolute majority in the Knesset, bysecret ballot. If no candidate receives an absolute majority of votes in the first or second round of voting, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated in each subsequent round, if needed until only two remain.[2] 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; as there is no minimum age of candidacy, this would even allow a minor to hypothetically be elected. An age limit of 40 was considered, but rejected by the Knesset as unnecessary. 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 novice president in the Israeli governmental system. If the president is temporarily incapacitated, or leaves office, thespeaker of the Knesset becomesacting president.
Thefirst presidential election took place on 16 February 1949, and the winner wasChaim Weizmann. Thesecond took place in 1951, as at the time presidential terms were linked to the length of the Knesset term (thefirst Knesset lasted only two years).Another election took place the following year after Weizmann's death.
Since then, elections have been held in1957,1962,1963 (an early election followingYitzhak Ben-Zvi's death),1968,1973,1978,1983,1988,1993,1998,2000,2007,2014, and2021. Six elections (1951, 1957, 1962, 1968, 1978, and 1988) have taken place with no opposition candidate, although a vote was still held.
Isaac Herzog waselected 11th President on 2 June 2021.[3] His term started on 9 July.[4]
The president's fundamental role within the machinery of Israel'suncodified constitution is to "...stand at the head of the State", representing the state of Israel abroad and fostering national unity at home.[5] In this capacity, the president personifies the Israeli state, sanctions the decisions of legitimate constitutional authorities, and guarantees the execution of the public will.[6][7] Put another way, the presidency serves as a national symbol that seeks to reinforce the core values of the state and to give a voice to the diversity of Israeli society in the performance of its official functions.[8] In these respects, 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 byBasic Law: The Presidency, which was passed in 1964.[9][10] The Basic Law: The Government also makes provision for the powers of the president in relation to Government formation.[9]
However, unlike heads of state in most other parliamentary republics, the president is not thenominal chief executive. Rather,Basic Law: The Government explicitly vests executive power in theGovernment (as the Cabinet is officially called), with theprime minister as its head.[11] Likewise, most presidential powers are either exercised in accordance with the strictures of the Basic Laws or on the bindingadvice of the Government. Indeed, most presidential acts require the countersignature of the prime minister or another minister designated thereby to have legal effect.[12] Correspondingly, the presidency occupies a largely ceremonial role in the conduct of state business. Nevertheless, these constitutional limitations do not extend to the exercise of those discretionary functions comprising the president'sreserve powers.
The presidency enjoysimmunity from both civil suit and criminal prosecution.[13] Thus, the president isinviolable before the courts of law for any matter concerned with the performance of his or her official functions. The purpose of this substantive immunity is to guarantee the institutional independence of the president from the legislative, executive, and judicial branches.[8] This arrangement effectively makes the presidency – in the words of one constitutional scholar – Israel's "fourth branch of government", allowing successive presidents to exercise nonpartisan influence (as opposed to party-political policymaking power) in their dealings with politicians, to assure the continuity and stability of state institutions, and to hold dialogue with the public on various charitable causes and issues of national import.[14]
The president signs bills passed by the Knesset into law, except those bills that pertain to the president's powers, and ratifies international or bilateral treaties approved by the Knesset.[9] Acting on the advice of the Government, the president is also charged withendorsing the credentials of Israeli ambassadors abroad andreceiving the credentials of foreign diplomats to Israel.[15] Likewise, the president is responsible for appointing a wide array of public officials, including judges, the governor of theBank of Israel, the president ofMagen David Adom, the president of theIsrael Academy of Sciences and Humanities, and members of the Council on Higher Education, the National Academy of Science, the Broadcasting Authority, the Authority to Rehabilitate Prisoners, the Chief Rabbinical Council and theWolf Foundation. Judges are appointed by the president pursuant to the nominations of theJudicial Selection Committee.[16] All other presidential appointments are made on the advice of the Government.[17]
In addition to routine functions exercised on the advice of the Government or in accordance with the strictures of the Basic Laws, the president enjoys personal discretion in matters of Government formation, parliamentary dissolution, and granting pardons. These functions comprise the reserve powers of the presidency.[18]
The president's most important power, in practice, is to lead the process of forming a Government. Israel'selectoral system andfractured 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. Following such consultations, the president assigns a Knesset member the task of forming a Government. If the nominee is successful in forming a Government that can command the confidence of the Knesset, then said Knesset member becomes theprime minister. If a nominee fails to form a Government, then the president assigns the task anew. If a government is not formed within the timeframe stipulated inBasic Law: The Government, then the president dissolves the Knesset and calls for fresh elections.[19]
The prime minister may request, by virtue of section 29 (a) of Basic Law: The Government, that the president dissolve the Knesset whenever the Government has lost its majority and is incapable of functioning.[9] The president may refuse such a request, effectively dismissing the prime minister from office and triggering the resignation of the Government.[20] The exercise of this authority by the president serves to prevent a prime minister fromabusing their power – namely, beating the Knesset into submission through multiplesnap elections.[21]
The president has broad power to pardon, reduce, or commute the sentences of both soldiers and civilians, including to refuse requests for such clemency.[22] The president reaches a decision regarding the prerogative of clemency at his or her own discretion, after receiving information from the applicants, requesting the opinion of other parties, and consulting theminister of justice or theminister of defense, as the case may be. Each Israeli president adopts a different approach to how they handle clemency, which influences their decision making.[23]
The president confers the dignity ofRighteous Among the Nations on the recommendation ofYad Vashem, presents theWolf Prize on the recommendation of the Wolf Foundation, and awards thePresidential Medal of Honor, the President's Fund for Outstanding Doctoral Students, and the Presidential Award for Volunteerism in his absolute discretion.[24][25][26][27] The President also participates in the awarding of theIsrael Prize, which is held annually onYom Ha'atzmaut.[28] Moreover, the president serves as the keynote speaker at the opening ceremonies of the half-yearlyKnesset conference, as well as at the annual official ceremonies forYom Hazikaron andYom HaShoah.[29][30]
Most Israeli presidents were involved in national politics orZionist activities before taking office. Some were also distinguished in other fields. For example, Chaim Weizmann was a leading research chemist who founded theWeizmann Institute of Science inRehovot;Zalman Shazar was an author, poet, and journalist; andChaim Herzog was a military leader, attorney, and diplomat.[citation needed]
The first Israeli presidents were born in the formerRussian Empire. The first native-born president, as well as the first with aSephardi background, wasYitzhak Navon. The first president with a Western European background was Chaim Herzog, who originally came fromBelfast,United Kingdom. The first president with aMizrahi background wasMoshe Katsav, who was born inIran.[31]The first president to be born in the modern state afterIsrael's declaration of independence isIsaac Herzog. He is also the first son of a former Israeli president to also become president. As of 2024, the only other presidents with close family ties wereChaim Weizmann and his nephewEzer Weizman.[32]
All Israeli presidents fromYitzhak Ben-Zvi toEzer Weizman were members of, or associated with, theLabor Party and its predecessors, and have been considered politically moderate. Moshe Katsav was the firstLikud president. These tendencies were especially significant in the April 1978 election of Labor'sYitzhak Navon, following the inability of the governing Likud coalition to elect its candidate to the presidency. Israeli observers believed that, in counterbalance to Prime MinisterMenachem 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 andAmbassador of Israel to the United Nations) succeeded him as Israel's sixth president. Likud'sMoshe Katsav's victory over Labor'sShimon Peres in 2000 (by secret ballot) was anupset.[citation needed]
Albert Einstein, a Jew, but not an Israeli citizen, was offered the presidency in 1952,[33] 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."[34]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".[35]
