A telephone poll conducted by Mutagim for the Makor Rishon newspaper on the last week of December revealed that Israelis believe Yitzhak Navon (1978-1983) was Israel's best president, with 24.8% approval. Ezer Weizman (1993-2000) followed with 13.7% approval, Shimon Peres (2007-present) came in third with 12.3% approval, with Chaim Herzog following at 9.8%.
A former Haganah fighter, Navon served as president under Prime Minister Menachem Begin, and conducted the first visit by an Israeli president to an Arab state in 1980, traveling to Egypt.