Israel, Herzog elected new president

Isaac Herzog was elected as the 11th President of the State of Israel. Former Labor Party leader, current president of the Jewish Agency and son of former Israeli president Isaac Herzog, he won 87 votes in the Knesset against 33 for challenger Miriam Peretz. The current president Reuven Rivlin who will remain in office until next 9 July. ” I’ll be everyone’s president. I will listen to any position and to any person ”, Herzog’s first words after the election. The new president then underlined the importance of building “bridges and agreements between us”, that is, within Israeli society, and “with our brothers and sisters of the diaspora”. ” I accept upon myself the heavy responsibility you have entrusted to me. I accept the privilege of serving the entire Israeli people “, he continued. Quoted by the Haaretz newspaper, Herzog admitted that” the challenges are great and should not be underestimated. It is essential to heal the bleeding wounds of our society. We must defend Israel’s international position and its good name among the nations. ” Furthermore, he added, it is necessary “to fight anti-Semitism and hatred of Israel” as well as “to protect the pillars of our democracy”. Benjamin Netanyahu’s opponent in the 2015 elections, Herzog therefore expressed the hope of “being able to work with any prime minister and any government”. Quoted by the Times of Israel, Netanyahu replied “ this is not the time to address this issue. ” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated Isaac Herzog on his election as Israel’s new president. He will be sworn in on July 9th. “I congratulate Isaac Herzog on his election as president and wish him great success on behalf of the citizens of Israel,” Netanyahu said. “I thank Miriam Peretz for her candidacy and I am sure she will continue to contribute to Israeli society as she has done throughout her life,” added the Israeli premier. Who Is Isaac Herzog The 11th President of the Jewish State Isaac Herzog, 61, was born in Tel Aviv. He took over the leadership of the Labor Party in 2013, putting the issue of peace with the Palestinians back at the center of his agenda. He is an exponent of the Israeli elite. His father Chaim Herzog was the sixth president of Israel and his grandfather Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog the chief rabbi of Ireland and then of the British mandate in Palestine, his uncle Abba Eban was Golda Meir’s foreign minister. He is the grandson of Israel’s first Ashkenazi chief rabbi, Isaac Herzog, from whom he takes his name. His brother Michael is a retired IDF Brigadier General. His aunt Suzy was the wife of former foreign minister Abba Eban. Isaac Herzog has been a minister of Welfare, Diaspora, Public Housing and Tourism on several occasions, but he has never headed leading departments. Benestate lawyer, head of one of the best practices in Israel founded by his father, is a former intelligence officer. A calm man, he accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of having dragged the country into a state of hysteria “by isolating it internationally. In 2015 he stood for the vote at the head of the Zionist Union, an alliance with Tzipi Livni.