An election for

President of Israel The president of the State of Israel ( he, נְשִׂיא מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, Nesi Medinat Yisra'el, or he, נְשִׂיא הַמְדִינָה, Nesi HaMedina, President of the State) is the head of state of Israel. The posi ...

was held in the

Knesset The Knesset ( he, הַכְּנֶסֶת ; "gathering" or "assembly") is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus has complete control of the entirety of the Israeli government (with ...

on 8 December 1952 following the death of the Israel's first president,

Chaim Weizmann Chaim Azriel Weizmann ( he, חיים עזריאל ויצמן ', russian: Хаим Евзорович Вейцман, ''Khaim Evzorovich Veytsman''; 27 November 1874 – 9 November 1952) was a Russian-born biochemist, Zionist leader and Israe ...

on 9 November. Between Weizmann's death and the winner of the election,

Yitzhak Ben-Zvi Yitzhak Ben-Zvi ( he, יִצְחָק בֶּן־צְבִי‎ ''Yitshak Ben-Tsvi''; 24 November 188423 April 1963) was a historian, Labor Zionist leader and the longest-serving President of Israel. Biography Born in Poltava in the Russian Empir ...

, taking office on 16 December, Knesset speaker

Yosef Sprinzak Yosef Sprinzak ( he, יוֹסֵף שְׁפְּרִינְצָק; ) was a leading Zionist activist in the first half of the 20th century, an Israeli politician, and the first Speaker of the Knesset, a role he held from 1949 until his death in 1959. ...

served as acting president.

Candidates

There were four candidates: *

: One of the founders of

Mapai Mapai ( he, מַפָּא"י, an acronym for , ''Mifleget Poalei Eretz Yisrael'', lit. "Workers' Party of the Land of Israel") was a democratic socialist political party in Israel, and was the dominant force in Israeli politics until its merger in ...

(the ruling party, for whom he was a member of the Knesset) and the Histadrut (the country's largest

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...

), a former president of the

Vaad Leumi The Jewish National Council (JNC; he, ועד לאומי, ''Va'ad Le'umi''), also known as the Jewish People's Council was the main national executive organ of the Assembly of Representatives of the Jewish community (Yishuv) within Mandatory Pale ...

, signatory of the Israel declaration of independence and a personal friend of

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

David Ben-Gurion David Ben-Gurion ( ; he, דָּוִד בֶּן-גּוּרִיּוֹן ; born David Grün; 16 October 1886 – 1 December 1973) was the primary national founder of the State of Israel and the first prime minister of Israel. Adopting the nam ...

. *

Peretz Bernstein Peretz Bernstein ( he, פרץ ברנשטיין, born Shlomo Fritz Bernstein; 12 June 1890 – 21 March 1971) was a Zionist activist and Israeli politician and one of the signatories of the Israeli declaration of independence. Biography Bern ...

: A member of the Knesset for the

General Zionists The General Zionists ( he, הַצִיּוֹנִים הַכְּלָלִיים, translit. ''HaTzionim HaKlaliym'') were a centrist Zionist movement and a political party in Israel. The General Zionists supported the leadership of Chaim Weizmann an ...

and also a signatory of the country's declaration of independence. *

Yitzhak Gruenbaum Yitzhak Gruenbaum ( pl, Izaak Grünbaum, Hebrew and Yiddish: ; 1879–1970) was a noted leader of the Zionist movement among Polish Jewry in the interwar period and of the Yishuv in Mandatory Palestine. Gruenbaum was the first Interior Minister o ...

: A signatory of the Israeli declaration of independence, a minister in the

provisional government A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, or a transitional government, is an emergency governmental authority set up to manage a political transition generally in the cases of a newly formed state or ...

, and though an adherent of Mapam, not a member of any political party. * Mordechai Nurock: A member of the Knesset for Mizrachi and Minister of Postal Services in the government at the time. Before the election,

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...

was spoken to by

Abba Eban Abba Solomon Meir Eban (; he, אבא אבן ; born Aubrey Solomon Meir Eban; 2 February 1915 – 17 November 2002) was an Israeli diplomat and politician, and a scholar of the Arabic and Hebrew languages. During his career, he served as For ...

about the possibility of becoming President. He declined, explaining, "I have neither the natural ability nor the experience to deal with human beings."Israel: Einstein declines
Time, 1 December 1952

Results

Three rounds of voting were required after no candidate gained an outright majority. Peretz Bernstein dropped out after the second round, with Yitzhak Ben-Zvi elected in the third round.

References

External links

Knesset website {{Israeli presidential elections 1952 elections in Israel

Presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pre ...

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

December 1952 events in Asia