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.
Rehovot That year, Rehovot had a population of 3,193. The agricultural research station that opened in Rehovot in 1932 became the Department of Agriculture of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In 1933, a juice factory was built. In 1934, Chaim Weizmann established the Sieff Institute, which later became the Weizmann Institute of Science. In 1937, Weizmann built his home on the land purchased adjacent to the Sieff Institute. The house later served as the presidential residence after Weizmann became president in 1948. Weizmann and his wife are buried on the grounds of the institute. In 1945, Rehovot had a population of