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The genius scientist Albert Einstein was once offered to become president of Israel, but he turned it down. Photo/Prints and Photographs Division/Library of Congress
TEL AVIV – Albert Einstein was a genius Jewish scientist who was famous for his discoveries in theoretical physics. However, he actually had the opportunity to enter politics because he was once offered to become president of Israel.
Following the death of Israel’s first president, Chaim Weizmann, in 1952, the Israeli government, then led by Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, offered Einstein the presidency.
The President of Israel performs mostly ceremonial duties, so the role is more of an honor than a position of power.
Neither Einstein nor Ben-Gurion expressed much enthusiasm for the prospect of Einstein becoming president.
Einstein found the offer odd, and Ben-Gurion joked to his assistant; “I had to offer him the post because it was impossible not to. But if he accepts, we are in trouble.”
Throughout his life, Einstein consistently showed his support for the state of Israel. “I made the cause of Zionism my goal because through it I saw a way to correct a glaring error,” he wrote in a 1947 letter to Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
However, when offered the presidency, Einstein immediately turned it down, refusing an official meeting with representatives of the Israeli embassy. Israel’s ambassador to the United States at the time, Abba Eban, insisted on sending him the letter on Ben-Gurion’s behalf.
Eban’s letter also contained an offer of the Israeli presidency to Einstein.
Eban’s offer confirmed the Israeli public’s admiration for Einstein and urged him to consider the nation’s intellectual and spiritual potential.