1988 Israeli Presidential Election

Chaim Herzog, Israel's sixth president, was first elected on March 22, 1983, after the end of Yitzhak Navon's term. Herzog, the opposition Alignment's candidate, defeated Supreme Court Justice Menachem Elon by 61 votes to 57 in the Knesset ballot.[4][5]

Under the legal framework in force during Herzog's presidency, the president was elected by the Knesset in a secret ballot for a five-year term and could serve no more than two consecutive terms.[6][7] Herzog was therefore eligible for one further term in 1988, which would bring him to the maximum then permitted. The law was changed in 1998 to establish a single seven-year presidential term.[8][2]

In February 1988, Herzog stood for reelection. Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir chose not to field an opposing candidate, following a tradition of not contesting a sitting president.[2] Herzog consequently ran unopposed, with Labor Party sponsorship and wide support from Likud, Labor's coalition partner at the time.[1]

The Knesset conducted the election by secret ballot. Herzog received 82 votes, while 18 members cast blank ballots.[7][2] One Knesset member wrote a condition on the ballot calling for the release of prisoners from the Jewish Underground.[2] The result secured Herzog's second and final five-year term.

The presidential vote preceded the November 1988 elections for the Twelfth Knesset.[4] Those elections produced a close result, with Likud winning 40 seats and Labor winning 39. Religious parties won 18 of the Knesset's 120 seats: Shas received 6, Agudat Israel 5, the National Religious Party 5, and Degel Hatorah 2.[9]

Both major blocs attempted to assemble coalitions with smaller parties but failed to establish separate governing majorities.[3] The religious parties' demands included public funding for religious institutions, expanded authority in personal-status matters, and continued military-service exemptions for yeshiva students.[9] Labor and Likud ultimately agreed to another power-sharing arrangement in which Shamir continued as prime minister and Shimon Peres became foreign minister.[3]

Among the smaller-party movements, Aharon Abuhatzira joined Likud before the November elections and received the twelfth position on its candidate list. After its founder joined Likud, the Tami party ceased to exist as an independent political force.[4]

Herzog completed his second term, serving as Israel's sixth president from 1983 until 1993.[10][11] His 1988 reelection brought him to the two-term constitutional maximum then permitted, and he became the only Israeli president to serve two terms.[1][11]

A contemporary academic study interpreted the November Knesset results as a stimulus for wider electoral-reform demands. Public concern about the leverage of smaller religious parties contributed to calls for changes including district elections or direct election of the prime minister.[9]

Sources describing Herzog's presidency must be read in their historical context. Contemporary accounts of the legal framework and biographical references describe the term in force in 1988 as five years, renewable once.[6][11] A Jewish Virtual Library page instead states that the president serves a seven-year term, reflecting the later system established by the 1998 amendment rather than the rules governing Herzog's election.[8][2]

The central details of the 1988 vote—the absence of an opposing candidate, Herzog's 82 votes, and the 18 blank ballots—are documented in a detailed Hebrew-language retrospective published by Ynet.[2]