BICOM

Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein announced yesterday that on 10 June, the Knesset will elect a successor to President Shimon Peres, whose term is coming to an end.

Edelstein’s announcement, which officially kicked off the campaign, took many by surprise as a vote had been widely expected on 17 or 18 June. The President, largely a ceremonial role, is elected by the Knesset’s 120 members and each candidate now has until 27 May to gather the endorsement of at least 10 MKs to register for the poll.

The only two candidates to have officially registered so far are former Knesset Speaker and senior Likud MK Reuven Rivlin and former Defence Minister and senior Labour MK Binyamin Ben Eliezer. Rivlin sent a letter to MKs yesterday canvassing for support as a “builder of bridges.” Meanwhile, former Finance Minister and senior Hatnuah MK Meir Sheetrit has the support of his faction and is also expected to be a contender. Another former-Knesset Speaker, Dalia Itzik who is not a current MK but previously represented both Labour and Kadima, is also considered a possible candidate.

However, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu holds deep antipathy towards fellow Likud MK Rivlin and is thought to be considering giving his tacit support to Likud Minister Silvan Shalom who is mulling his candidacy after allegations of sexual misconduct against him were recently dropped by the state prosecutor. Other candidates have also been the subject of controversy lately. Ben Eliezer has denied recent damaging media reports of gambling in London casinos, Rivlin dismissed a video which was sent to MKs accusing him of “trying to buy Knesset members” while this week a story emerged claiming that Sheetrit made illegal payments to a housekeeper.

Announcing the date of the presidential poll yesterday, Edelstein addressed the smears against likely contenders, saying “The post of president of Israel is important, and it is aimed at healing rifts in the nation … This hasn’t been the kind of campaign we wanted to see.”