The presidential changing of the guard has been brought forward by two days. Following repeated media reports it would take place on July 9, it has now been officially announced that it will take place on July 7.
The installation of the 11th president of the State of Israel will differ somewhat from past ceremonies, in that following the swearing-in of President-elect Isaac Herzog at the Knesset, there will be a transition ceremony at the President’s Residence, where President Reuven Rivlin will formally and symbolically hand over the keys to Herzog.
This is the first time that a transition ceremony will be held at the President’s Residence. It was certainly impossible in the case of Israel’s first two presidents, Chaim Weizmann and Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, who each died in office.
Of the nation’s 11 presidents, Herzog is only the fourth to be born in Israel. The others were Yitzhak Navon, Ezer Weizman and Rivlin.
Both Navon and Rivlin were born in Jerusalem – to multigenerational Jerusalem families.
Navon returned to politics, served as education minister, and only in his twilight years lived on the capital’s Jabotinsky Street, within easy walking distance of the President’s Residence – to which he was frequently invited, especially during the term of Shimon Peres. Navon and Peres were not only good friends but lifelong disciples of Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion.
Rivlin, who sold the apartment he had lived in for 40 years, will move to King David’s Court, which is a little further away but still within walking distance, especially for Rivlin, who takes a daily constitutional.
Herzog, a former chairman of the Labor Party and opposition leader, will be 67 when he completes his term, and will still be young enough to follow Navon’s example and return to politics.
Then again, depending on global developments and the role of Israel’s president, the law relating to the president may be amended yet again.
Originally, it was without time limits, but when Ben-Zvi died soon after beginning his third term, the law was changed to enable a president to serve two consecutive five-year terms.
When Ezer Weizman’s fiscal improprieties were disclosed in the second year of his second term, the lawwas again amended so that the president would serve only one seven-year term.
However, Herzog, judging by his political background and his accomplishments as chairman of the Jewish Agency, is likely to be a very active president, especially in the face of escalating antisemitism and the work of mending fences with Diaspora Jewry.
If he does well, the law could again be amended to two terms – either two five-year terms or two seven-year terms.
In the latter case, Herzog will still be younger than Peres and Rivlin at the conclusion of their respective tenures.