Itongadol.- Shechtman, Dorner, Itzik, Rivlin, Ben-Eliezer and Sheetrit in race; Sarah Silverman: Abramowitz won\’t win because "he\’s not rich."
All six presidential candidates who have received the backing of Knesset members received enough endorsements to submit their candidacy to Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein Monday, a day before Tuesday\’s deadline.
Nobel laureate Dan Shechtman and former Supreme Court judge Dalia Dorner joined former Knesser Speaker Dalia Itzik, and MKs Reuven Rivlin (Likud), Binyamin Ben-Eliezer (Labor), and Meir Sheetrit (Hatnua) in a record six-candidate field.
Shechtman received endorsements over the weekend from Science and Technology Minister Ya\’acov Peri, Shas MK Avraham Michaeli, and Likud MK Moshe Feiglin for a total of nine. His tenth endorsement came Monday from Deputy Education Minister Avraham Wortzman (Bayit Yehudi).
Dorner received her tenth from Yesh Atid MK Pnina Tamanu-Shata, a former legal correspondent for Channel 1.
Many of the MKs who endorsed Shechtman and Dorner said they were lending their signature to the candidates in order to permit them to run but that they did not intend to vote for them in the June 10 election in the Knesset. Knesset legal adviser Eyal Yinon ruled that their endorsements were legal.
A poll broadcast over the weekend on Channel 2 found that Shechtman was popular with the general public. Nineteen percent of respondents said they backed him, more support than any candidate received, except for Rivlin.