1963 Israeli presidential election

An election to choose the third President of Israel was held in the Knesset on 21 May 1963 following the death of the county's second president, Yitzhak Ben-Zvi on 23 April. Between Ben-Zvi's death and the winner of the election, Zalman Shazar, taking office on the day of the vote, Knesset speaker Kadish Luz served as acting president.

21 May 1963

Nominee Zalman Shazar Peretz Bernstein Party Mapai Liberal Electoral vote 67 33

president before election Yitzhak Ben-Zvi Mapai Elected president Zalman Shazar Mapai

Candidates

There were two candidates:

• Zalman Shazar: A member of the Knesset for Mapai, and former Minister of Education and editor of the Davar newspaper.
• Peretz Bernstein: A member of the Knesset for the Liberal Party, former Minister of Trade and Industry and a signatory of the Israeli declaration of independence.

Results

The election was settled in the first round, with Shazar gaining an outright majority of votes in the 120-seat Knesset.

Candidate	Affiliation	Votes
Zalman Shazar	Mapai	67
Peretz Bernstein	Liberal Party	33
Blank ballots		7
Total		107

External links

• Presidential elections Knesset website (in English)