Leading Candidates For Israeli President: Yitzchak Herzog And Miriam Peretz

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — The two leading candidates for the 11th Israeli president, who will be chosen by the Knesset on June 2nd, are Yitzchak Herzog, son of Israel’s 6th president Chaim Herzog and grandson of Chief Rabbi Yitzchak Herzog, and Miriam Peretz, a bereaved mother who lost two sons in battle but has become a symbol to Israelis for maintaining Zionist and Jewish values and strengthening people’s spirits despite what she  suffered. Both candidates announced Wednesday that they had obtained the requisite minimum of 10 Knesset members signing on their candidacy. Herzog, currently director of the Jewish Agency, is supported by the chareidi parties and is considered the favorite to win the presidency, which is determined by a minimum 61 members of Knesset.

Prime Minister Netanyahu is considering allowing Likud members to vote for whoever they want. The rationale for this according to the Globes news site is that Netanyahu may require the president to grant him amnesty if he is found guilty of bribery, breach of trust and other crimes which he is charged with at present. Thus, allowing freedom of vote will enable him to say later that the Likud supported whichever president is eventually elected and this may help him obtain amnesty.

Two other candidates are attempting to garner the support of 10 MKs before the deadline for submitting candidacy on Wednesday evening. Veteran singer and popular actor Yehoram Gaon is seeking to be elected president. Gaon, whose career spans over six decades, has never ventured into politics and found it hard to gain support of Knesset members.

The fourth candidate could be Yehuda Glick, a former Likud MK and director of the Temple Institute. More than anyone else Glick is identified with the struggle to allow Jews to ascend to Temple Mount and he established a number of organizations to promote this goal. Glick almost paid with his life for his work when he was targeted by an Arab terrorist in 2014 and suffered serious gunshot wounds, slowly recovering and continuing his activities. Glick is still seeking the ten MK signatures which will enable him to run for president.