Israeli parliament to pick new president

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JERUSALEM, June 13 (AP): The race for the Israeli presidency has taken on a high-profile buzz, driven by rape allegations against the sitting president and elder statesman Shimon Peres' campaign to cap his six-decade government career with a term in the president's mansion.
Israel's parliament holds the secret vote for the mainly ceremonial post Wednesday, when they will choose between Peres, of the ruling Kadima Party; Reuven Rivlin, lawmaker and former parliament speaker from the hawkish Likud; and legislator Colette Avital of the Labor Party.