The prime minister of Israel is the head of government and chief executive of the State of Israel.
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 Shamir was an Israeli politician and the seventh prime minister of Israel, serving two terms. Before the establishment of the State of Israel, Shamir was a leader of the Zionist militant group Lehi, also known as the Stern Gang.
Reuven "Ruvi" Rivlin is an Israeli politician and lawyer who served as the tenth president of Israel between 2014 and 2021. He is a member of the Likud party. Rivlin was Minister of Communications from 2001 to 2003, and subsequently served as Speaker of the Knesset from 2003 to 2006 and 2009 to 2013. On 10 June 2014, he was elected President of Israel. His term ended on 7 July 2021.
Meir Sheetrit is an Israeli politician. He served as a member of the Knesset in two spells for Likud between 1981 and 1988, and again from 1992 until 2005, when he joined Kadima. He remained a Knesset member for Kadima until joining Hatnuah in 2012, for whom he served until 2015. He also held several ministerial posts, including being Minister of the Interior, Minister of Housing & Construction, Minister of Finance, Minister of Justice, Minister of Transportation and Minister of Education, Culture & Sport. He was also a candidate for President of Israel in 2014.
Indirect presidential elections were held in Israel on 13 June 2007. The Knesset elected Shimon Peres, a former Prime Minister and a member of the Kadima party. His opponents were Reuven Rivlin, a former Knesset speaker, of the Likud Party, and Colette Avital, of the Labor party. After the first round of voting put Peres in a commanding lead, but just short of the absolute majority required for election, Rivlin and Avital bowed out and Peres was elected easily in the second round.
The ninth government of Israel was formed by David Ben-Gurion on 17 December 1959 following the November 1959 elections. Ben-Gurion largely kept the same coalition partners as during the previous government, and added the new Israeli Arab parties Progress and Development and Cooperation and Brotherhood.
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 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.
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.
Carmel Shama-Hacohen is an Israeli lawyer and politician. He served as a member of the Knesset for Likud in two spells between 2009 and 2014, before becoming Israel's envoy to the OECD, UNESCO and the Council of Europe. In 2018 he was elected mayor of Ramat Gan.
The Movement for Greater Israel, also known as the Land of Israel Movement, was a political organisation in Israel during the 1960s and 1970s which subscribed to an ideology of Greater Israel.
Events in the year 1961 in Israel.
An election for President of Israel was held in the Knesset on 30 October 1962. Incumbent President Yitzhak Ben-Zvi stood again, and was the only candidate. He was re-elected with 62 of the 104 votes cast. Ben-Zvi's third term began on the day of the election. He later died before his term finished, on 23 April 1963.
Indirect presidential elections were held in Israel on 10 June 2014. The result was a victory for Reuven Rivlin of the Likud party. Rivlin was sworn in as President of Israel on 24 July.
The thirty-fifth government of Israel, or the Netanyahu–Gantz government, was the government of Israel which was sworn in on 17 May 2020 and dissolved on 13 June 2021.
Snap legislative elections were held in Israel on 17 September 2019 to elect the 120 members of the 22nd Knesset. Following the previous elections in April, incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to form a governing coalition for a second consecutive time. On 30 May, the Knesset voted to dissolve itself and trigger new elections, in order to prevent Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz from being appointed Prime Minister-designate. This election marked the first time the Knesset voted to dissolve itself before a government had been formed.
Yosef Yoel Rivlin was an Israeli Oriental studies scholar, a professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a member of the Academy of the Hebrew Language.
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.
