List of presidents of Israel

This article lists the presidents of the Provisional State Council and Presidents of Israel since the adoption of the Israeli Declaration of Independence in 1948.

Presidents of the Provisional State Council (1948–1949)

Colour key
Mapai General Zionists

The Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel was proclaimed on 14 May 1948 by David Ben-Gurion, the Executive Head of the World Zionist Organization and Chairman of the Jewish Agency for Palestine.

As President of the Provisional State Council, the interim legislative and executive authority that served until the formation of Israel's provisional government, Chaim Weizmann served as the de facto head of state until his election as President of Israel in 1949.

Presidents Elected
(term)
No. Portrait Name
(Lifespan)
Term of office Political party
(at time of appointment)
1   David Ben-Gurion
דוד בן-גוריון
(1886–1973)
14 May 1948 16 May 1948 Mapai
2   Chaim Weizmann
חיים עזריאל ויצמן
(1874–1952)
16 May 1948 17 February 1949 General Zionists

Presidents of Israel (1949–present)

Colour key
General Zionists Mapai Alignment/Labor Likud Kadima

Eleven people have served as President of Israel, four of whom have served two consecutive terms. Another, Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, was elected to three consecutive terms, although he died in office soon after the beginning of his third term.

Isaac Herzog has been serving as the 11th President of Israel since 2021.

President Elected
(term)
No. Portrait Name
(Lifespan)
Term of office Political party
(at time of appointment)
1   Chaim Weizmann
חיים עזריאל ויצמן
(1874–1952)
17 February 1949 25 November 1951 General Zionists 1949 (1st)
25 November 1951 9 November 1952[1] 1951 (2nd)
  Yosef Sprinzak
יוסף שפרינצק
(1885–1959)
Acting
9 November 1952 16 December 1952 Mapai
2   Yitzhak Ben-Zvi
יצחק בן צבי
(1884–1963)
16 December 1952 30 October 1957[1] Mapai 1952 (3rd)
30 October 1957 30 October 1962 1957 (4th)
30 October 1962 23 April 1963[2] 1962 (5th)
  Kadish Luz
קדיש לוז
(1895–1972)
Acting
23 April 1963 21 May 1963 Mapai
3   Zalman Shazar
זלמן שז"ר
(1889–1974)
21 May 1963 26 March 1968 Mapai 1963 (6th)
26 March 1968 24 May 1973 1968 (7th)
4   Ephraim Katzir
אפרים קציר
(1916–2009)
24 May 1973 29 May 1978 Alignment
Labor
1973 (8th)
5   Yitzhak Navon
יצחק נבון
(1921–2015)
29 May 1978 5 May 1983 Alignment
Labor
1978 (9th)
6   Chaim Herzog
חיים הרצוג
(1918–1997)
5 May 1983 23 February 1988 Alignment
Labor
1983 (10th)
23 February 1988 13 May 1993 1988 (11th)
7   Ezer Weizman
עזר ויצמן
(1924–2005)
13 May 1993 4 March 1998 Labor 1993 (12th)
4 March 1998 13 July 2000[3] 1998 (13th)
  Avraham Burg
אברהם בורג
(born 1955)
Acting
13 July 2000 1 August 2000 One Israel
Labor
8   Moshe Katsav
משה קצב
(born 1945)
1 August 2000 1 July 2007[4][5] Likud 2000 (14th)
  Dalia Itzik
דליה איציק
(born 1952)
Acting
1 July 2007 15 July 2007 Kadima
9   Shimon Peres
שמעון פרס
(1923–2016)
15 July 2007 24 July 2014 Kadima 2007 (15th)
10   Reuven Rivlin
ראובן ריבלין
(born 1939)
24 July 2014 7 July 2021 Likud 2014 (16th)
11   Isaac Herzog
יצחק "בוז׳י" הרצוג
(born 1960)
7 July 2021 (Term expires in 2028) Labor 2021 (17th)

Notes

  1. ^ David Ben-Gurion preceded Weizmann as Chairman of Provisional State Council, a position which he held from 14 to 16 or 17 May 1948. Weizmann's position remained as Chairman of Provisional State Council until 17 February 1949, when he was declared President by the first Knesset. Upon Weizmann's death on 9 November 1952, Knesset Speaker Yosef Sprinzak took over as Acting President of Israel until the inauguration of Yitzhak Ben-Zvi.
  2. ^ Upon Ben-Zvi's death on 23 April 1963, Knesset Speaker Kadish Luz took over as Acting President of Israel until the appointment of Zalman Shazar.
  3. ^ After Weizman resigned from the presidency, Knesset Speaker Avraham Burg took over as Acting President of Israel until the appointment of Moshe Katsav.
  4. ^ After Katsav began a leave of absence due to police investigations on 25 January 2007, Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik took over as Acting President of Israel. She continued in this role after Katsav's resignation came into effect on 1 July 2007 until Shimon Peres's inauguration on 15 July.
  5. ^ Majalli Wahabi served as Acting President while Dalia Itzik was travelling to the United States. He thus become the first Druze and non-Jew to serve as Acting President of Israel.

Timeline

Isaac HerzogReuven RivlinShimon PeresMoshe KatsavEzer WeizmanChaim HerzogYitzhak NavonEphraim KatzirZalman ShazarYitzhak Ben-ZviChaim WeizmannDavid Ben-Gurion

Main biographical data

No. Name Date of birth Date of death Place of birth Place of death Place of burial
1 Chaim Weizmann 27 November 1874 9 November 1952 Motal,
Russian Empire
 
Rehovot
 
Rehovot[2]
 
2 Yitzhak Ben-Zvi 24 November 1884 23 April 1963 Poltava,
Russian Empire
 
Jerusalem
 
Har HaMenuchot
 
3 Zalman Shazar 24 November 1889 5 October 1974 Mir,
Russian Empire
 
Jerusalem
 
Mount Herzl
 
4 Ephraim Katzir 16 May 1916 30 May 2009 Kiev,
Russian Empire
 
Rehovot
 
Rehovot Cemetery
 
5 Yitzhak Navon 9 April 1921 7 November 2015 Jerusalem,
Mandatory Palestine
 
Jerusalem
 
Mount Herzl
 [3]
6 Chaim Herzog 17 September 1918 17 April 1997 Belfast,
United Kingdom
 
Tel Aviv
 
Mount Herzl
 
7 Ezer Weizman 15 June 1924 24 April 2005 Tel Aviv,
Mandatory Palestine
 
Caesarea
 
Or Akiva
 
8 Moshe Katsav 5 December 1945 Yazd,
Pahlavi Iran
 
9 Shimon Peres 2 August 1923 28 September 2016 Vishnyeva,
Poland
 
Ramat Gan
 
Mount Herzl
 
10 Reuven Rivlin 9 September 1939 Jerusalem,
Mandatory Palestine
 
11 Isaac Herzog 22 September 1960 Tel Aviv,
Israel
 

See also

References

  1. ^ https://pdfs.jta.org/1957/1957-10-31_208.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  2. ^ "Chaim Weizmann - First President of the State of Israel". president.gov.il. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
  3. ^ Lis, Jonathan (8 November 2015). "Yitzhak Navon, Israel's Fifth President, Laid to Rest at Jerusalem's Mt. Herzl Cemetery". Haaretz.