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An election for President of Israel was held in the Knesset on 8 December 1952 following the death of the Israel's first president, Chaim Weizmann on 9 November. Between Weizmann's death and the winner of the election, Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, taking office on 16 December, Knesset speaker Yosef Sprinzak served as acting president.
There were four candidates:
Before the election, Albert Einstein was spoken to by Abba Eban about the possibility of becoming President. He declined, explaining, "I have neither the natural ability nor the experience to deal with human beings." [1]
Three rounds of voting were required after no candidate gained an outright majority. Peretz Bernstein dropped out after the second round, with Yitzhak Ben-Zvi elected in the third round.
| Candidate | Party | First round | Second round | Third round | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | |||
| Yitzhak Ben-Zvi | Mapai | 48 | 48.98 | 48 | 48.48 | 62 | 57.94 | |
| Mordechai Nurock | Mizrachi | 15 | 15.31 | 15 | 15.15 | 40 | 37.38 | |
| Yitzhak Gruenbaum | Independent | 17 | 17.35 | 18 | 18.18 | 5 | 4.67 | |
| Peretz Bernstein | General Zionists | 18 | 18.37 | 18 | 18.18 | |||
| Total | 98 | 100.00 | 99 | 100.00 | 107 | 100.00 | ||
| Valid votes | 98 | 89.09 | 99 | 89.19 | 107 | 95.54 | ||
| Invalid votes | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | ||
| Blank votes | 12 | 10.91 | 12 | 10.81 | 5 | 4.46 | ||
| Total votes | 110 | 100.00 | 111 | 100.00 | 112 | 100.00 | ||
| Registered voters/turnout | 120 | 91.67 | 120 | 92.50 | 120 | 93.33 | ||
The Israeli Declaration of Independence, formally 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, Chairman of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, and soon to be first Prime Minister of Israel. It declared the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz-Israel, to be known as the State of Israel, which would come into effect on termination of the British Mandate at midnight that day. The event is celebrated annually in Israel as Independence Day, a national holiday on 5 Iyar of every year according to the Hebrew calendar.
The president of the State of Israel is the head of state of Israel. The position is largely a ceremonial role, with executive power vested in the cabinet led by the prime minister. The incumbent president is Isaac Herzog, who took office on 7 July 2021. Presidents are elected by the Knesset for a single seven-year term.
Yitzhak Ben-Zvi was a historian, ethnologist, Labor Zionist leader and the longest-serving President of Israel.
Amir Peretz is an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for the Labor Party. A Knesset member almost continuously from 1988 to 2021, he has served as Minister of Defence, Minister of Economy, and Minister of Environmental Protection, as well as heading the Histadrut trade union federation between 1995 and 2006.
Pinchas Rosen was an Israeli statesman, and the country's first Minister of Justice, serving three times during 1948–51, 1952–56, and 1956–61. He was also leader of the Independent Liberals and three times turned down invitations to be Israel's president.
Kalman Kahana was a long-serving Israeli politician and journalist, and a signatory of the Israeli declaration of independence. He was the brother of Yitzhak Kahan, a President of the Supreme Court of Israel.
Yosef Sprinzak was a leading Zionist activist in the first half of the 20th century, an Israeli politician, and the first Speaker of the Knesset, a role he held from 1949 until his death in 1959.
Yitzhak Gruenbaum was a noted leader of the Zionist movement among Polish Jewry in the interwar period and of the Yishuv in Mandatory Palestine. Gruenbaum was the first Interior Minister of the State of Israel.
Haim-Moshe Shapira was a key Israeli politician in the early days of the state's existence. A signatory of Israel's declaration of independence, he served continuously as a minister from the country's foundation in 1948 until his death in 1970 apart from a brief spell in the late 1950s.
Peretz Bernstein was a Zionist activist and Israeli politician and one of the signatories of the Israeli declaration of independence.
An election for President of Israel was held in the Knesset on 21 May 1963 following the death of the county's second president, Yitzhak Ben-Zvi on 23 April. Between Ben-Zvi's death and the winner of the election, Zalman Shazar, taking office on the day of the vote, Knesset speaker Kadish Luz served as acting president.
David-Zvi Pinkas was a Zionist activist and Israeli politician. A signatory of the Israeli declaration of independence, he was the country's third Minister of Transport.
Yitzhak-Meir Levin, was a Haredi politician in Poland and Israel. One of 37 people to sign the Israeli declaration of independence, he served in several Israeli cabinets, and was a longtime leader and Knesset minister for Agudat Yisrael and related parties.
Mordechai Nurock was a Latvian-born Israeli who served in both the parliaments of Latvia and Israel. He was also Israel's first Minister of Postal Services, though he only held the post for less than two months.
Events in the year 1963 in Israel.
Events in the year 1950 in Israel.
Events in the year 1952 in Israel
Indirect presidential elections were held in Israel on 2 June 2021. The President of Israel is elected by members of the Knesset for a single seven-year term. Incumbent President Reuven Rivlin, who had been in office since 24 July 2014, was ineligible for re-election.
