Chaim Weizmann deaths and the beginning of a new path leading to life. Two days after the proclamation of the State of Israel, Weizmann succeeded Ben-Gurion as chairman of the Provisional State Council, a collective presidency that held office until Israel's first parliamentary election, in February 1949. On 2 July 1948 a new kibbutz was founded facing the Syrian Heights overlooking the Jordan River, only 5 miles from Syrian territory. Their forces had already seized Kibbutz "Mishmar Ha-Yarden". The new kibbutz was named (President's Village) "Kfar Ha-Nasi". When the first Knesset met in 1949, Weizmann was nominated as Mapai's candidate for president.
President of Israel and journalist; and Chaim Herzog was a military leader, attorney, and diplomat. The first Israeli presidents were born in the former Russian Empire, which was true of much of the leadership in the early days of the state. The first native-born president, as well as the first with a Sephardi background, was Yitzhak Navon. The first president with a Western European background was Chaim Herzog, who originally came from Belfast, United Kingdom. The first president with a Mizrahi background was Moshe Katsav, who was born in Iran. All Israeli presidents from Yitzhak Ben-Zvi to Ezer Weizman were members of, or