In just a few minutes, #IsraelexPresident begins.
The candidates: Isaac Herzog and Miriam Peretz.
The voters: the 120 members of Israel's parliament, the Knesset.
The method: Secret ballot.
The candidates: Isaac Herzog and Miriam Peretz.
The voters: the 120 members of Israel's parliament, the Knesset.
The method: Secret ballot.
The position: President of Israel, an apolitical and mostly ceremonial posting.
The powers: Selection of future holders of the prime ministerial mandate and granting of pardons.
The term length: 7 years, no second term allowed.
The powers: Selection of future holders of the prime ministerial mandate and granting of pardons.
The term length: 7 years, no second term allowed.
Dont expect the classic left/right divide in this vote. There is no party discipline here. Anybody can vote for anybody.
Only 87 MKs are in the plenum right now. Since you need an absolute majority of 61, we're (hilariously) headed for a runoff unless the vote is unexpectedly one-sided.
https://twitter.com/Shiritc/status/1399996580862779392
In a demonstration that this isn't left vs. right, the charedi parties have decided to vote for Herzog. (Though of course there's no way of knowing if every individual MK actually will.)
https://twitter.com/zalmanovitz/status/1399999108924968981
The speaker is asking the MKs to sit and listen as he goes over the procedure of the vote. MKs will be called up one by one to vote in alphabetical order by surname; if they aren't present, they'll be called again at the end to see if they showed up.
Each MK will place one slip of paper, that reads either Herzog, Peretz, or blank, into an envelope - just like what we do when we vote for the Knesset.
If I heard correctly, you don't actually need an absolute majority in the first round, because there are only two candidates. Simple majority suffices. But I may be wrong about this.
As PM, Netanyahu is being honored with the first vote even though he is not first alphabetically.
The MKs are going into the voting booth one by one.
Fun fact: In 1993, they embarrassingly discovered 124 votes in the ballot box and had to redo the vote.
Fun fact: In 1993, they embarrassingly discovered 124 votes in the ballot box and had to redo the vote.
I'm not going to announce each MK entering the booth. We don't know who they're voting for, it's a waste of my time and yours, and I have to fix a broken shelf in my fridge. But I'm watching live and will let you know if anything interesting happens before voting ends.
If the presidential vote becomes a microcosm of the national Knesset vote, we should all just accept we're in a TV series.
https://twitter.com/James_J_Marlow/status/1400000030493265921
There are 107 MKs present. Most of the party leaders who are engaged in coalition negotiations are absent.
https://twitter.com/Shiritc/status/1400000724373811204
Gantz and Lapid have also arrived.
https://twitter.com/arikbender/status/1400002765271846914
I'm so glad I'm on Twitter rather than covering this live on television. I can go silent while we wait for the results. The poor news anchors have no choice but to fill time by pointing out which MKs are talking to which other MKs and speculating wildly about why.
This is curious, and reminds me of xkcd.com/1607/.
https://twitter.com/yaara_shapira/status/1400006169918332930
Almost halfway through the vote now.
3/4 of the way through the vote now.
I think looking at these is cheating, and if I were an MK I'd pocket a pile of slips just to mess with you all.
https://twitter.com/Gil_Hoffman/status/1400013980274409472
Voting has concluded, and there is a short break now while they count the votes. #IsraelexPresident
According to @talschneider, 119 votes were cast; only Mansour Abbas was not present.
If there aren't too many blank ballots, it looks like we won't be going to a runoff.
If there aren't too many blank ballots, it looks like we won't be going to a runoff.
https://twitter.com/talschneider/status/1400016427856322561
Correction to an earlier tweet in this thread: Only UTJ is voting lockstep for Herzog. Shas MKs were free to vote how they like. (Though of course even UTJ has no way to track if their MKs voted as ordered.)
The counting is complete. A few double-checks and we're getting the announcement soon...
https://twitter.com/bentzi_r/status/1400024607424487425
Already seeing tweets from reporters saying that Herzog has won.
Herzog 87(!)
Peretz 26
Presumably 6 blank ballots based on these numbers.
Isaac Herzog will be the next President of Israel. #IsraelexPresident
Peretz 26
Presumably 6 blank ballots based on these numbers.
Isaac Herzog will be the next President of Israel. #IsraelexPresident
Correction: 3 blank ballots, 3 invalid ballots.
https://twitter.com/Shiritc/status/1400025764498743296
Herzog's 87 votes is the most attained by any candidate in Israeli presidential history. Previous record is 86, achieved three times:
* Peres in 2007
* Navon in 1978
* Shazar in 1968
* Peres in 2007
* Navon in 1978
* Shazar in 1968
Herzog's victory could have been even greater. All 3 invalid ballots were failed attempts to vote for him.
https://twitter.com/IsraelexLive/status/1400026627367739392
Herzog's victory was so large (87 out of 113 votes cast, 3 spoiled ballots) that it is virtually certain that many of the 30 Likud MKs voted for him.
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