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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 | ||
