The 11 Presidents of the State of Israel
Incumbent – Isaac Herzog
Isaac “Bougie” Herzog is the 11th president of the state of Israel, and was inaugurated on 7 July 2021. He is the son of Israel’s 6th President, Chaim Herzog.
A lawyer by profession “Bougie” served as the Government Secretary from 1999 and 2001. He was a member of the Knesset from 2003 to 2018. He held several ministerial posts between 2005 and 2011, including serving as Minister of Welfare and Social Services from 2007 to 2011 under Prime Ministers Ehud Olmert and Benjamin Netanyahu.
He served as chairman of the Labor Party and the Zionist Union alliance from 2013 and 2017. He served as the Leader of the Opposition from 2013 to 2018 and was the Labor Party candidate for Prime Minister during the 2015 elections.
Chairmen of the Provisional State Council (1948–1949)
The Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel was proclaimed on 14 May 1948 by David Ben-Gurion, the Executive Head of the World Zionist Organization and Chairman of the Jewish Agency for Palestine.
As Chairman of the Provisional State Council, Chaim Weizmann served as the de facto head of state from 1948 – 1949 until his election as President.
Name | Hebrew Name | From | To | |
David Ben-Gurion | דוד בן-גוריון | 14 May 1948 | 16 May 1948 | |
Chaim Weizmann | חיים עזריאל ויצמן | 16 May 1948 | 17 February 1949 |
Presidents of Israel (1949–present)
Chaim Weizmann, Zalman Shazar. Chaim Herzog and Ezer Weizmann all served 2 consecutive terms as President. Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, served three consecutive terms.