The Presidency of Israel

Abstract

The Israeli President is indirectly elected by the unicameral legislature, the Knesset. By comparative indicators, the formal powers of the office are extremely limited; the most important areas in which the President can exercise discretion are the process of government formation and granting pardon. By contrast, in the area of legislation, the President’s role is minimal as he/she can neither initiate nor veto bills and must sign every law that was passed by the Knesset. Notwithstanding the formal limitations of their office, several Israeli Presidents were able to use the authority conferred on them by its symbolic significance and prestige in order to draw public attention to government policies and decisions that they disagreed with and considered harmful for the unity of the nation’s complex social, ethno-national, and religious fabric. The importance of the Presidency is further attested by the intense maneuvering and strategizing that precedes and accompanies presidential elections in the Knesset. On balance, the Israeli Left has been much more successful to elect its candidates, with only two politicians from the Right ever succeeding to do so. This may explain why public trust in the institution of the Presidency tends to be higher among Israelis who self-identify politically with the Left.