Shimon Peres has just been elected to what has been, in the past, the mostly ceremonial position of the President of Israel. He replaces a disgraced (really disgraced) politician and has beat out the Likud candidate by a wide margin:
[Peres] won the support of 86 of parliament's 120 members in a second round of voting in which he stood alone, parliament speaker Dalia Itzik said. His two rivals, Reuven Rivlin of the hawkish Likud and Colette Avital of the centrist Labor, withdrew from the race after he [Peres] seized a commanding lead in the first round.
http://www.chron.com/...
There is talk, in Israel, of this seven-year post, especially with Peres' gravitas and world stage experience, becoming more than ceremonial. No word on what that will mean, but it's an interesting idea, given the single digit popularity of the current Prime Minister and the potential for a Likud replacement (ugh) in the future.
More below the fold...
Note: I'm just reporting this development. I'm not addressing how it impacts the I/P conflict or the I/P conflict, at all. (This is NOT an I/P diary) This is only about the election of Peres to this internal post:
In a speech to lawmakers following his victory, Peres said he saw his new role as a unifier of Israel's fractured society.
"The president's role is not to deal with politics and partisanship, but to represent what unites us in a strong voice," he said.
I'm not sure how easy that will be, given the current state of politics within Israel. I do know that I'm relieved the Likud candidate did not win and that someone like Peres, no matter how anyone feels about his record (or about Israel in general) is a definite improvement over both the last president they had and on the Likud guy that Peres was up against.
Here's the link to the AP Report.
Original tags: Israel, Shimon Peres, Elections