He succeeds Reuven Rivlin who will end his seven years in office on July 9 and is not eligible to run again.
Following in the footsteps of his father Chaim Herzog, Isaac Herzog, currently Chairman of the Jewish Agency, has been elected Wednesday Israel’s 11th president by the Knesset, the Israeli parliament.
A former chairman of the Labor party, Herzog succeeds Reuven Rivlin who will end his seven years in office on July 9 and is not eligible to run again.
The vote was held in a special session during which Knesset members cast secret ballots for either Herzog or Israel Prize laureate Miriam Peretz. Herzog received 87 votes out of 120 members of the parliament.
The previous day, each candidate had arrived at the Israeli parliament with teams of up to 50 relatives, friends and professionals, who lobbied members to vote for them.
60-year-old Herzog is the son of the late Chaim Herzog, who was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and among other illustrious posts—served as Israel’s sixth president from 1983 to 1993.
The Israeli presidency is largely a ceremonial role with one of the main roles meeting the leaders of each party following legislative elections and giving a mandate to try and form a government.