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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2009
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Israel's Parliament Elects Peres President

83-year-old former PM vows to unite country

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(Newser) – The Knesset voted in Vice Premier Shimon Peres as president of Israel today, after his two rivals for the office dropped out. Peres, a former PM and Nobel laureate, says his job is to unite Israeli society and "expel despair from our midst." He follows Moshe Katsav, who stepped down from the office following rape allegations.

The octogenarian Peres was a protege of David Ben-Gurion in Israel's infancy, and an old lion of the Israeli left; after years in the Labor party, he joined Ariel Sharon's right-leaning Kadima in 2005. He faced a tough road to the presidency, which he lost in the last election, but an endorsement from PM Olmert sealed the deal.

Veteran Israeli politician and Nobel laureate Shimon Peres, right, is congratulated by parliament speaker and acting President Dalia Itzik, and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, left, as they raise a toast shortly after the results of the presidential elections were announced making Peres Israel's ninth President, at the Knesset, Israel's...
Veteran Israeli politician and Nobel laureate Shimon Peres, right, is congratulated by parliament speaker and acting President Dalia Itzik, and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, left, as they raise...   (Associated Press)
Veteran Israeli politician and Nobel laureate Shimon Peres smiles as he takes a mobile telephone call of congratulations from Spain's King Juan Carlos, while attending a Kadima party meeting in the Knesset, Israel's parliament in Jerusalem, after his election victory to become Israel's ninth president, Wednesday, June 13, 2007. Peres...
Veteran Israeli politician and Nobel laureate Shimon Peres smiles as he takes a mobile telephone call of congratulations from Spain's King Juan Carlos, while attending a Kadima party meeting in the Knesset,...   (Associated Press)
Israel's Vice Premier and candidate for President Shimon Peres casts his ballot during voting at the Knesset, Israel's parliament, in Jerusalem, Wednesday, June 13, 2007. Shimon Peres took a commanding lead Wednesday in the first round of voting for Israel's president, a race that has taken on a high-profile buzz...
Israel's Vice Premier and candidate for President Shimon Peres casts his ballot during voting at the Knesset, Israel's parliament, in Jerusalem, Wednesday, June 13, 2007. Shimon Peres took a commanding...   (Associated Press)
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