Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein
Knesset Speaker Yuli EdelsteinHezki Ezra

Knesset Speaker MK Yuli Edelstein (Likud-Beytenu) finished the consultation process regarding election of a new president on Monday, and officially announced June 10 as the date on which MKs will select President Shimon Peres's successor.

The vote is supposed to be carried out no later than a month before mid-July, when the present president's term expires.

Earlier reports said that Edelstein would consult with the Knesset Secretariat and announce a date somewhere between June 10 and June 18.

The final date for submitting candidacy to the post is ten days before the election. That makes June 8, the last day in which candidacy can be announced.

Israel Hayom reports that there are increasingly large chances that Minister Silvan Shalom will announce his candidacy for the position. The estimate follows the “positive meeting” Shalom had with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu at week's end. Netanyahu is reportedly considering giving Shalom his “quiet support.”