2014 Israeli Presidential Election Tuesday June 10,2014

The Israeli parliament is set to vote on a new president to replace Shimon Peres, whose presidential term ends in July 2014

Politicians from the 120-member Knesset will elect a new head of state from five candidates in a secret ballot on Tuesday June 10,2014

Israel will have a new president-elect, with the vote in the Knesset beginning at 11 a.m. local time on Tuesday June 10,2014

The first round of voting is expected to take two hours and 45 minutes and, unless the unlikely scenario in which one candidate receives 61 votes comes true, a second round will follow half an hour later, in which the top two candidates will face off against each other.

The winner is widely expected to be Reuven Rivlin, a former speaker of parliament and a rival of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's  ruling rightwing Likud Party.

Opinion polls show Rivlin as the public's preferred candidate. Former defence minister, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, withdrew his name after police launched an investigation into alleged financial irregularities.

The other politicians in Tuesday's race include Meir Sheetrit, who is from Morocco and a member of the centrist Hatnuah party, Dalia Itzik, the first woman speaker of the Knesset, retired Supreme Court justice Dalia Dorner and chemistry Nobel Laureate Dan Shechtman

Lawmakers will have to choose between MK Reuven Rivlin (Likud Beytenu), MK Meir Sheetrit (Hatnua), former MK Dalia Itzik, former Supreme Court justice Dalia Dorner, and Nobel Laureate Prof. Dan Shechtman.

 


Reuven Rivlin elected president of Israel
Israel’s parliament on Tuesday June 10,2014 chose Reuven Rivlin Who defeated Meir Sheetrit 63 to 53, in a secret runoff ballot. Three other candidates were eliminated in a first round of voting in the 120-member parliament
Reuven Rivlin, a former speaker of parliament, gestures during his speech after he was elected Israel's president at the Knesset, Israel's parliament, in Jerusalem June 10, 2014. 

Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu (right) congratulated Reuven Rivlin on his election on Tuesday June 10,2014

About Reuven Rivlin

• Born in 1939 in Jerusalem
• Trained as a lawyer
• First elected to the Knesset (parliament) in 1988
• Former chairman of Betar Jerusalem sports association and loyal supporter of their football team
• Served as minister of communications under then PM Ariel Sharon between 2001 and 2003
• Elected Knesset Speaker in 2003 in an uncontested victory