Rivlin elected as Israel\\\'s 10th president

Reuven Rivlin, a far-right member of Israel's ruling Likud, was on Tuesday elected by parliament to be the nation's 10th president when Shimon Peres steps down in July, the speaker said. Announcing the results of a run-off vote, parliamentary speaker Yuli Edelstein said Rivlin had defeated his centrist challenger Meir Sheetrit by 63 votes to 53 in a secret ballot of the Knesset's 120 MPs. In the first round of voting earlier in the day, the candidates with the most votes were Reuven Rivlin and Meir Sheetrit, who moved to the second final round. There were a total of 116 valid votes in round two. In the final second round the race was won by Reuven Rivlin. The president is elected to a seven year term. The current president, Shimon Peres, will be stepping down this summer, according to AFP.