President Izhak Ben-Zvi was elected by Parliament here today to a third five-year term. He will be sworn into office in ceremonies here tomorrow.
The 78-year-old Zionist veteran was the candidate of the parties making up the present coalition Government. He received 62 votes from the 104 members who cast ballots. A total of 42 ballots from members of the opposition parties were blank, as an indication of the conviction of those deputies that a President should not serve more than two terms. The blank ballots were the means by which the opposition deputies could express their rejection of a third term on principle, without voting against Mr. Ben-Zvi as an individual admired by all parties. Sixteen members were absent.
The opposition did not offer a candidate for that reason. The vote will formally be recorded as one in which Mr. Ben-Zvi was re-elected uncontested and unopposed.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
