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President of Israel: Chaim Weizmann

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The Palgrave International Handbook of Israel

Abstract

Chaim Weizmann served as the first president of the State of Israel from February 16, 1949, until November 9, 1952, when he passed away at the age of 78. His entire life was intimately associated with the Zionist movement, which he led as president of the Zionist Organization for two decades. He played a key role in securing the Balfour Declaration in 1917, establishing the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1925 and the Weizmann Institute of Science in 1949. Although he had been defeated and sidelined in Zionist politics by the time the State of Israel was born, the Knesset unambiguously elected and then reelected him as the first head of state.

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Correspondence to Csaba Nikolenyi .

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© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

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Nikolenyi, C. (2022). President of Israel: Chaim Weizmann. In: Kumaraswamy, P.R. (eds) The Palgrave International Handbook of Israel. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-2717-0_27-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-2717-0_27-1

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-16-2717-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-16-2717-0

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