List of presidents of Israel facts for kids

This article lists the presidents of the Provisional State Council and Presidents of Israel since the adoption of the Israeli Declaration of Independence in 1948.

Presidents 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 President of the Provisional State Council, the interim legislative and executive authority that served until the formation of Israel's provisional government, Chaim Weizmann served as the de facto head of state until his election as President of Israel in 1949.

Presidents						Elected (term)
No.	Portrait	Name (Lifespan)	Term of office		Political party (at time of appointment)
1		David Ben-Gurion דוד בן-גוריון (1886–1973)	14 May 1948	16 May 1948	Mapai	—
2		Chaim Weizmann חיים עזריאל ויצמן (1874–1952)	16 May 1948	17 February 1949	General Zionists	—

Presidents of Israel (1949–present)

Eleven people have served as President of Israel, four of whom have served two consecutive terms and one, Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, was elected to three consecutive terms, although he died in office soon after the beginning of his third term.

Isaac Herzog has been serving as the 11th President of Israel since 2021.

President						Elected (term)
No.	Portrait	Name (Lifespan)	Term of office		Political party (at time of appointment)
1		Chaim Weizmann חיים עזריאל ויצמן (1874–1952)	17 February 1949	25 November 1951	General Zionists	1949 (1st)
			25 November 1951	9 November 1952		1951 (2nd)
–		Yosef Sprinzak יוסף שפרינצק (1885–1959) Acting	9 November 1952	16 December 1952	Mapai	–
2		Yitzhak Ben-Zvi יצחק בן צבי (1884–1963)	16 December 1952	30 October 1957	Mapai	1952 (3rd)
			30 October 1957	30 October 1962		1957 (4th)
			30 October 1962	23 April 1963		1962 (5th)
–		Kadish Luz קדיש לוז (1895–1972) Acting	23 April 1963	21 May 1963	Mapai	–
3		Zalman Shazar זלמן שז"ר (1889–1974)	21 May 1963	26 March 1968	Mapai	1963 (6th)
			26 March 1968	24 May 1973		1968 (7th)
4		Ephraim Katzir אפרים קציר (1916–2009)	24 May 1973	29 May 1978	Alignment Labor	1973 (8th)
5		Yitzhak Navon יצחק נבון (1921–2015)	29 May 1978	5 May 1983	Alignment Labor	1978 (9th)
6		Chaim Herzog חיים הרצוג (1918–1997)	5 May 1983	23 February 1988	Alignment Labor	1983 (10th)
			23 February 1988	13 May 1993		1988 (11th)
7		Ezer Weizman עזר ויצמן (1924–2005)	13 May 1993	4 March 1998	Labor	1993 (12th)
			4 March 1998	13 July 2000		1998 (13th)
–		Avraham Burg אברהם בורג (born 1955) Acting	13 July 2000	1 August 2000	One Israel Labor	–
8		Moshe Katsav משה קצב (born 1945)	1 August 2000	1 July 2007	Likud	2000 (14th)
–		Dalia Itzik דליה איציק (born 1952) Acting	1 July 2007	15 July 2007	Kadima	–
9		Shimon Peres שמעון פרס (1923–2016)	15 July 2007	24 July 2014	Kadima	2007 (15th)
10		Reuven Rivlin ראובן ריבלין (born 1939)	24 July 2014	7 July 2021	Likud	2014 (16th)
11		Isaac Herzog יצחק "בוז׳י" הרצוג (born 1960)	7 July 2021	(Term expires in 2028)	Labor	2021 (17th)

Timeline

Main biographical data

No.	Name	Date of birth	Date of death	Place of birth	Place of death	Place of burial
1	Weizmann, ChaimChaim Weizmann	27 November 1874	9 November 1952	Motal, Russian Empire	Rehovot	Rehovot
2	Ben-Zvi, YitzhakYitzhak Ben-Zvi	24 November 1884	23 April 1963	Poltava, Russian Empire	Jerusalem	Har HaMenuchot
3	Shazar, ZalmanZalman Shazar	24 November 1889	5 October 1974	Mir, Russian Empire	Jerusalem	Mount Herzl
4	Katzir, EphraimEphraim Katzir	16 May 1916	30 May 2009	Kiev, Russian Empire	Rehovot	Rehovot Cemetery
5	Navon, YitzhakYitzhak Navon	9 April 1921	7 November 2015	Jerusalem, Mandatory Palestine	Jerusalem	Mount Herzl
6	Herzog, ChaimChaim Herzog	17 September 1918	17 April 1997	Belfast, United Kingdom	Tel Aviv	Mount Herzl
7	Weizman, EzerEzer Weizman	15 June 1924	24 April 2005	Tel Aviv, Mandatory Palestine	Caesarea	Or Akiva
8	Katsav, MosheMoshe Katsav	5 December 1945		Yazd, Pahlavi Iran
9	Peres, ShimonShimon Peres	2 August 1923	28 September 2016	Vishnyeva, Poland	Ramat Gan	Mount Herzl
10	Rivlin, ReuvenReuven Rivlin	9 September 1939		Jerusalem, Mandatory Palestine
11	Herzog, IsaacIsaac Herzog	22 September 1960		Tel Aviv, Israel

See also

• List of prime ministers of Israel
• President of Israel