Israel’s New President

“I will be everyone’s president… I will build bridges between different parts of our society.”

Isaac Herzog, Israel’s newly elected president.

• 60-year-old Herzog was elected as Israel’s 11th president on Tuesday. He will begin his seven-year term in July.
• Herzog is a veteran politician and former leader of Israel’s Labor Party (a socially democratic party) who lost his run for prime minister in 2015, when he tried to unseat Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister since 2009. He is a proponent of a two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.
• After serving in Israel’s Knesset (parliament) for 15 years, Herzog spent the last three years serving as the chairman of the Jewish Agency, a nonprofit organization that encourages Jews from across the globe to move to Israel.
• Herzog comes from a well-known Israeli family who some call the Israeli version of the Kennedys.
• DID YOU KNOW? In Israel, the president is elected by the Knesset – not the people. The president’s role is largely ceremonial as the head of state, whereas the prime minister is the head of the government.