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Live Broadcast from the Knesset |
Official Website of the President |
The Knesset Elects a President
Because none of the candidates received 61 or more votes, there was a second round of voting for the President.
Colette Avital and Reuven Rivlin removed their candidacy, and the second round was solely with Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres.
Shimon Peres was then elected the Ninth President of the State of Israel.
The Candidates:
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| MK Colette Avital | Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres | Reuven Rivlin |
| 21 Votes | 58 Votes | 37 Votes |
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The President of the State The President is the head of state. The origin of the name is in the title of the head of the Sanhedrin (the supreme Jewish political, religious and judicial body in Eretz Yisrael) from the first century B.C.E. to the fifth century C.E. The Basic Law: the President of the State, which was passed in 1964, dealt with the status of the President, his election, qualifications, powers and work procedures. The President is elected in a secret vote by the Knesset plenum for a single term of seven years. The functions of the President include: Participation in ceremonies and official visits as representative of the state within Israel and abroad; the granting of credentials to Israel's diplomatic representatives to other countries; the acceptance of the credentials of foreign diplomats in Israel; the opening of the first session of a new Knesset; receiving reports from government meetings recommending the pardoning of prisoners or the reduction of their sentences. Until the 1992 Basic Law: the Government was passed, the President also consulted with all the parliamentary groups elected to the Knesset before assigning the task of forming a new government to the head of the parliamentary group with the best chances of forming a government. However, this function no longer exists since the Prime Minister is now directly elected. According to the new law the Prime Minister must consult the President only if s/he decides to dissolve the Knesset because s/he feels that there is a majority in the Knesset which opposes the government, and the government is consequently unable to function properly. Presidents since the establishment of the state:
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