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| By Israel Insider staff June 13, 2007 |
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Vice Premier Shimon Peres, 83, was elected Israel's ninth president Wednesday afternoon in a second round of voting after he failed to win a Knesset majority in the first. First Colette Avital, the Labor candidate, withdrew her candidacy, followed by Likud candidate Reuven Rivlin. In the end, even running without a declared opponent -- a little like in Syria's recent election -- Peres was opposed by 23 MKs while eight abstained, one was absent, and two ballots were invalidated.
At the end of his seven-year term, if he survives that long, Peres would be 90.
Peres is expected to enter office in mid-July, replacing Acting President Dalia Itzik and the temporarily suspended current president, Moshe Katsav. By that time he will be 84.
"This may be my last contribution to the State," Peres said during his campaign, and those who remember Oslo and its consequences may hope so. Still, the newly elected President pledged to stay out of politics and serve as a unifying (great)grandfather figure for the nation.
Referring to himself in the third-person, he promised that "the president does not deal with politics and partisanship; he represents unity in a strong voice and expels despair from our midst."
"I am excited and thrilled and embarrassed by this Knesset vote," said Peres, "it caught me completely unprepared and I have witnessed today a show of unity, of togetherness, of democracy at its finest. Today the Knesset showed nobility and camaraderie. I am the man who was elected but in my heart I know that the Knesset chose to prove today that the elected establishment is in touch with the heart of the people and represents that people faithfully."
Peres continued from his victory party to the Western Wall in Jerusalem to meet with Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, who had instructed the members of the Shas party to vote for Peres.
"I am an admirer of the rabbi," Peres said. "He is a genius and the nation of Israel must be thankful to him" [for getting me elected].
Rival Rivlin's voice broke as he announced his withdrawal from the race, saying "Long live the President! Long live the state of Israel."
Peres had lost seven previous elections, most recently to Moshe Katsav for President in 2000 and then to Amir Peretz for Labor Chairman in 2006.
One commentator observed that "the election of Peres was the political equivalent of a 'mercy [kiss].' Even his political enemies felt pity for the old loser."
In 1994 Peres was awarded the Nobel peace prize with Yitzhak Rabin -- murdered by an assassin's bullets in circumstances still the subject of fierce debate and controversy -- and Yasser Arafat. |
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