An election for

President of Israel The president of the State of Israel (, or ) is the head of state of Israel. The president is mostly, though not entirely, ceremonial; actual executive power is vested in the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet led by the Prime Minister of Israel, pr ...

was held in the

Knesset The Knesset ( , ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Israel. The Knesset passes all laws, elects the President of Israel, president and Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister, approves the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet, and supe ...

on 21 May 1963 following the death of the president

Yitzhak Ben-Zvi Yitzhak Ben-Zvi ( ''Yitshak Ben-Tsvi''; 24 November 188423 April 1963; born Izaak Shimshelevich) was a historian, ethnologist, Labor Zionism, Labor Zionist leader and the longest-serving president of Israel. He was 1952 Israeli presidential elec ...

on 23 April. Author, poet and politician Zalman Shazar was elected to the office. Between Ben-Zvi's death and Shazar taking office on the day of the vote, Knesset speaker Kadish Luz served as acting president.

Candidates

There were two candidates: * Zalman Shazar: A member of the Knesset for

Mapai Mapai (, an abbreviation for , ''Mifleget Poalei Eretz Yisrael'', ) was a Labor Zionist and democratic socialist political party in Israel, and was the dominant force in Israeli politics until its merger into the Israeli Labor Party in January ...

, and former

Minister of Education An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

and editor of the

Davar ''Davar'' (, lit. ''Speech, Word'') was a Hebrew-language daily newspaper published in the British Mandate of Palestine and Israel between 1925 and May 1996. A similarly named website was launched in 2016, under the name ''Davar Rishon'' as an ...

newspaper. * Peretz Bernstein: A member of the Knesset for the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

, former Minister of Trade and Industry and a signatory of the

Israeli declaration of independence The Israeli Declaration of Independence, formally the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel (), was proclaimed on 14 May 1948 (5 Iyar 5708), at the end of the 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine, civil war phase and ...

Results

The election was settled in the first round, with Shazar gaining an outright majority of votes in the 120-seat Knesset.

External links

Presidential elections
Knesset website {{Authority control

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Presidential elections in Israel

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...