Israeli lawmakers begin to vote for new president

JERUSALEM — Israeli legislators on yesterday began voting to choose the country's next president to replace outgoing Shimon Peres, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who brought international gravitas to the post.

Five candidates, including three veteran lawmakers, a retired Supreme Court justice and a Nobel prize winner, were vying for the post.

The largely ceremonial office is typically filled by a respected elder statesman who is expected to rise above politics and serve as a moral compass for the country. Whoever is elected likely will pale in comparison to the 90-year-old Peres, whose political career stretches back decades and who has been an outspoken proponent of peace with the Palestinians.

While most political power is held by the prime minister, the president plays several key roles in Israel.

Most critically, the president chooses a member of parliament, or Knesset, to form a majority coalition after elections. This has usually been the leader of the party with the most seats in parliament. But with the rise of a number of midsize parties in parliament, the next president could theoretically have more influence over choosing the country's prime minister.

Lawmakers in the 120-member Knesset were voting in secret, walking up to a box on the floor of the parliament and dropping sealed ballots into it.

Reuven Rivlin, a veteran politician from the hawkish Likud Party, is considered to be the front-runner for the post.

Rivlin, though a popular former parliament speaker, has opposed the creation of a Palestinian state — a potential liability that could put him at odds with the international community and even with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The 74-year-old Rivlin says his popularity and ability to connect to all elements of Israeli society make him most suitable for the role. Unlike the globe-trotting Peres, he says his focus will be domestic.

"I have gone through many steps. Today this is a very central one where I can end one path and start an additional one," Rivlin told Army Radio ahead of the vote.

The other candidates include Dalia Dorner, a former Supreme Court judge who received a boost late in the race when another hopeful, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, was forced to pull out. Former parliamentary speaker Dalia Itzik, longtime legislator Meir Shitreet and Nobel Prize in Chemistry winner Dan Shechtman are also running.

If no candidate receives more than 60 votes in the first round of voting, a run-off with the top two contenders will be held. Results were expected later yesterday and the winner is set to be sworn in on July 24.

The vote caps a nasty race full of mudslinging and scandals that forced two presidential hopefuls out of the race.