Previous Presidential Elections

February 16, 1949	The Constituent Assembly elected Professor Chaim Weizmann as the first president of the State of Israel. The candidates were Professor Chaim Weizmann and Professor Joseph Klausner. 114 Knesset Members participated in the elections. 83 votes were in favor of Weizmann, 15 in favor of Klausner, 15 empty ballots, and 1 invalid vote.
November 19, 1951	The second Knesset elected Professor Chaim Weizmann for a second term. There were no opposing candidates.
December 8, 1952	The second Knesset elected MK Yitzhak Ben-Zvi as the second president of the State. The candidates were MK Izhak Ben-Zvi (Mapai), MK Perez Bernstein (General Zionists), MK Mordechai Nurock, and Mr. Yizhak Greenbaum. There were three rounds of voting: 48 in favor of Ben-Zvi, 18 in favor of Bernstein, 17 in favor of Greenbaum, 15 in favor of Nurock, and 12 empty ballots. 48 in favor of Ben-Zvi, 18 in favor of Bernstein, 18 in favor of Greenbaum, 15 in favor of Nurock, and 12 empty ballots. 62 in favor of Ben-Zvi, 40 in favor of Nurock , 5 in favor of Greenbaum, , and 5 empty ballots.
October 28, 1957	The third Knesset re-elected Yitzhak Ben-Zvi for a second presidential term. There were no opposing candidates. In the election, 76 Knesset members voted in favor of Ben-Zvi, while 18 cast an empty ballot.
October 30, 1962	The fifth Knesset elected Yitzhak Ben-Zvi for a third presidential term with no opposing candidates. 62 members voted in his favor while 42 cast empty ballots.
May 21, 1963	The fifth Knesset elected Zalman Shazar as the third president of the State of Israel. The running candidates were Zalman Shazar and MK Perez Bernstein (Liberal Party). Of the 107 MKs who participated in the election, 67 voted in favor of Shazar, 33 in favor of Bernstein, and 7 cast empty ballots.
March 26, 1968	The sixth Knesset re-elected Zalman Shazar for a second presidential term. There were no opposing candidates. There were 86 votes in his favor and 24 empty ballots.
April 10, 1973	The seventh Knesset elected Professor Ephraim Katzir as the fourth president of Israel. The candidate who opposed him was Professor Ephraim-Elimelech Auerbach. The 116 votes of the Knesset were divided as follows: 66 in favor of Katzir, 41 in favor of Orback, and 9 empty ballots.
April 19, 1978	The ninth Knesset elected Yitzhak Navon as the fifth president. There were no opposing candidates. 86 Knesset members voted in his favor while 23 cast empty ballots.
March 22, 1983	The tenth Knesset elected Haim Herzog as the sixth president of Israel. The candidates for presidency were MK Haim Herzog (Labor Alignment) and Professor Menachem Alon. All 120 Knesset members participated in the vote. 61 voted in favor of Herzog, 57 voted for Alon, and 2 cast empty ballots.
February 23, 1988	President Haim Herzog was re-elected by the twelfth Knesset for a second term. There were no opposing candidates. 82 votes were in his favor; 2 votes were against; 2 were empty ballots, and 1 vote was invalidated.
March 24, 1993	The thirteenth Knesset elected Ezer Weizman for the position of seventh president of the State of Israel. Opposing him was MK Dov Shilansky (Likud). Of the 120 Knesset members who voted, 66 voted in favor of Weizman while 53 voted for Shilansky, and one cast an empty ballot.
March 4, 1998	The fourteenth Knesset re-elected Ezer Weizman for a second term. For the first time, an acting president was faced by an opponent, (MK Shaul Amor of the Likud), in the re-election. 119 members participated in the election: 63 votes were in favor of Weizman, 49 were in favor of Amor, and 7 were empty ballots.
July 31, 2000	The fifteenth Knesset elected Moshe Katsav for the position of eighth president of the State of Israel. Opposing him was MK Shimon Peres (One Israel). Of the 120 Knesset members who voted, 63 voted in favor of Katsav while 57 voted for Peres.