Arab-Israeli woman announces presidential run
Elham Khazen has become the first Arab woman to run for the Israeli presidency.
Azmi Bishara, then chairman of the Balad Party, was the first and until now only Arab citizen to run for prime minister of Israel. Things were different in 1999. There were direct elections for the office of prime minister, regardless of the candidate’s party affiliation. Then, two days before the election, Bishara withdrew his candidacy, citing a variety of reasons.
Three decades later, Arab businesswoman Elham Khazen from the northern town of Bi’ina announced her plans to run for president. Khazen, who owns a chain of pharmacies and a clinic in the town of Sakhnin, is the first Arab woman to run for the largely ceremonial position.
Khazen joins minister Amir Peretz, former minister Shimon Shetreet and former Knesset member Yehudah Glick, all of whom have announced their candidacies as well.
Any Knesset member can propose a candidate for the presidency, but the candidate must receive the endorsement of at least 10 Knesset members to run. All Knesset members then vote in a secret ballot. The general tendency of late has been for the lawmakers to choose a candidate from among themselves rather than an outsider. For example, when Nobel laureate in chemistry Dan Shechtman ran in 2014, he won just a single vote.
