Israeli parliament votes on new president to succeed Peres

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel’s parliament voted on Tuesday for a new head of state to succeed President Shimon Peres after a scandal-tinged race for a largely ceremonial post that is supposed to serve as a moral authority for the nation.

None of the five candidates to take over from Peres, a Nobel peace prize laureate whose term expires next month, captured the required 61 votes in the 120-seat legislature, to win outright, and a run-off will be held later in the day.

In the second round, Reuven Rivlin, a former speaker of parliament who garnered 44 votes, will face Meir Sheetrit, an experienced centrist politician, who took 31.

Rivlin, 74, is a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party. He has a reputation for political independence, opposes Palestinian statehood and has had a rocky relationship with the Israeli leader.

Sheetrit, a one-time ally of former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, has headed six ministries during his lengthy career, including the finance and interior ministries. He is a member of the moderate Hatnuah party, which is in the ruling coalition.

Last month, Netanyahu floated a trial balloon on the future of the presidency, ordering key advisers to sound out cabinet colleagues on suspending the poll and evaluating the need for the position, political sources said.

Some political analysts suggested that Netanyahu was concerned that a Rivlin victory could make him more vulnerable in a future general election. Israeli law grants the president the power to choose who should try to put together a government.