List of presidents of Israel facts for kids

This article introduces you to the leaders who have served as Presidents of Israel since the country was founded in 1948. The President is the head of state, a bit like a ceremonial leader, while the Prime Minister leads the government.

Israel's First Leaders (1948–1949)

Israel officially became a country on May 14, 1948. This was announced by David Ben-Gurion, who was a very important leader at the time.

Before Israel had its full government, there was a temporary group called the Provisional State Council. This council acted as the main governing body. Chaim Weizmann was the leader of this council. He was the acting head of state until he was officially elected as the first President of Israel in 1949.

Leaders						Elected (term)
No.	Portrait	Name (Lifespan)	Time in Office		Political Party (at the time)
1		David Ben-Gurion דוד בן-גוריון (1886–1973)	May 14, 1948	May 16, 1948	Mapai	—
2		Chaim Weizmann חיים עזריאל ויצמן (1874–1952)	May 16, 1948	February 17, 1949	General Zionists	—

Meet the Presidents of Israel (1949-Today)

So far, eleven people have served as President of Israel. Some presidents have served for two terms in a row. One president, Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, was elected for three terms. Sadly, he passed away soon after his third term began.

The current President of Israel is Isaac Herzog. He became the 11th President in 2021.

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

Presidential Timeline

This timeline shows when each president served. You can see how long each person held the office.

Facts About the Presidents

This table shares some interesting facts about where and when each president was born and passed away.

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

See also

• List of prime ministers of Israel
• President of Israel