Reuven Rivlin, who served two terms as speaker of the Knesset, was elected by the Knesset to serve as Israel's 10th president. He will assume office on July 24, for a single seven-year term.
How the Election Works
The president is elected by the 120 members of the Knesset (MKs). To be elected, the presidential candidate must receive votes via secret ballot from the majority of MKs (61). If there is no majority on the first ballot, the two candidates who receive the most votes in the first round will move on to the second.
Who Were The Candidates?
Dalia Dorner
Dorner served as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Israel from 1993 to 2004. In August of 2006, she was appointed president of the Israeli Press Council, and today serves as a professor of law.
Dalia Itzik
Itzik is a former Israeli politician who last served as a MK for Kadima (2006-2013). She has previously served as Minister of the Environment, Minister of Industry and Trade, Minister of Communications. In 2006, Itzik became the first female speaker of the Knesset, and has since served as President of Israel in an interim capacity.
Reuven Rivlin
Rivlin serves as a MK with the Likud party. He was first elected to the 12th Knesset in 1988. His time in parliament has included two terms as Speaker of the Knesset. Rivlin also served as Minister of Communications.
Dan Shechtman
Schetman is a Nobel Prize winning professor at the Technion in Israel. He received the award in Chemistry in 2011 for "the discovery of quasicrystals."
Meir Sheetrit
Sheetrit is currently a member of the Knesset for Hatnuah and has previously served as Minister of the Interior, Minister of Housing & Construction, Minister of Finance, Minister of Justice, Minister of Transportation and Minister of Education, Culture & Sport.