Ezer Weizman re- elected to five years as president

JERUSALEM, March 4 (JTA) — This week’s Knesset ballot for Israel’s president was viewed by the opposition as a test of the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. And when Israel’s popular but outspoken president, Ezer Weizman, was re-elected Wednesday for a second five-year term — heading off a challenge from Likud Knesset member Shaul Amor — opposition leader Ehud Barak was quick to term the outcome a failure for Netanyahu. Describing Weizman’s win as a “victory for the whole people of Israel,” Barak added during an interview with Israel Radio, “It is of course a defeat to Mr. Netanyahu.” Netanyahu, in turn, rejected Barak’s spin on the vote’s outcome. “We have a new president, a good one, that I and the people of Israel will work with,” Netanyahu said after the vote. In Wednesday’s secret ballot, Weizman garnered 63 votes to Amor’s 49, with seven abstentions. One Knesset member absented himself from the vote. Announcing the final tally, the Knesset’s speaker, Dan Tichon, said Weizman would be formally sworn in at a ceremony May 18. “I would like to thank the people of Israel, who supported me, and of course, the Knesset,” Weizman said at a news conference at the presidential residence in Jerusalem. The election for the largely ceremonial post turned into a politically charged battle between coalition and opposition forces when the Likud’s Knesset caucus threw its backing behind Amor and the Labor Party came out in support of Weizman. Though widely popular, Weizman has managed to alienate figures on both ends of the political spectrum. Following terrorist attacks during the Labor-led government of Yitzhak Rabin, Weizman called for Israel to put the brakes on the peace process. During Netanyahu’s tenure as premier, Weizman was critical of the slow pace of the peace process. His decision last year to invited Yasser Arafat to his home — at a time when the newly elected Netanyahu was still showing reluctance about meeting with the Palestinian leader — put a chill on his relations with the prime minister. But during a conversation in a televised linkup after the Knesset vote, Weizman and Netanyahu pledged to open a “new page” in their relations. Weizman’s abrasive style and sharp tongue have plunged him into several controversies. Remarks he made about the Bible, women and homosexuals were often followed by apologies — or by attempts to recast his comments. At the same time, he comes from a formidable background. The nephew of Israel’s first president, Chaim Weizmann — who spelled his last name differently — Weizman served as commander of Israel’s air force and helped forge the 1979 Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty. Among the well-wishers who called Weizman on Wednesday were Arafat and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. For his part, Amor, a Likud Party veteran relatively unknown in national circles, said he was not disappointed by the outcome. Amor, 57, won the Likud backing for the presidency after Netanyahu reportedly passed him over for a number of appointments, including house speaker and a position in the Cabinet. The Moroccan-born Amor served for 20 years as mayor of the northern town of Migdal Ha’emek, which he helped rid of high unemployment by attracting high-tech industry to the area.