Efraim Katzir is Elected 4th President of Israel by the Knesset

Born in Kiev in 1916, Katzir immigrates Palestine with his family at the age of 6. He earns his Ph.D. in biochemistry from the Hebrew University where he also teaches. In 1949 he is hired as the founding head of the biophysics department of the Weizmann Institute of Science. He receives the Israel Prize for natural sciences in 1959, and in 1966 he is appointed chief scientist of the IDF. As Israel’s President, Katzir has the honor of welcoming his Egyptian counterpart, Anwar Sadat, in his historic visit to Jerusalem in November 1977.