Kadima’s Shimon Peres, 84, is elected 9th President of Israel

He was elected by the Knesset Wednesday, June 13, by 86 votes in 120-member House. Twenty three voted against him, 8 cast blank votes.
Peres ran solo in the runoff vote after his two rivals, Likud’s Reuven Rivlin and Labor’s Colette Avital dropped out. In the first round, Rivlin gained 37 votes and Avital 21 to Peres’ 58. The second round was mandatory after all three fell short of the 61 votes. The presidency is an apolitical, ceremonial, representative post. Peres is required now to divorce himself from political activity. The only real power this office-bearer has is after a general election to designate the candidate with the best prospects of forming a stable government.