MOSCOW, June 2. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin hopes that the work of Isaac Herzog as Israel’s President will facilitate constructive interaction between the two countries.

"Russian-Israeli relations are of a friendly nature. I hope that your activity at the helm of state will facilitate further development of multifaceted and constructive bilateral cooperation, including interaction in international affairs," Putin noted in a telegram published on the Kremlin website on Wednesday. According to the Russian leader, such cooperation "undoubtedly, answers the cardinal interests of our people."

On Wednesday, Chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel Isaac Herzog was elected in the first round of a secret ballot by Knesset lawmakers as the 11th President of Israel. He will replace Reuven Rivlin at the end of the first decade of July after his seven-year term is completed. Israel has a seven-year presidential term, and a person cannot be the head of state twice.

The president-elect was born in Tel Aviv in 1960. His father, Chaim Herzog, was Israel’s president at the end of the 80s - the early 90s of last century. From 2003 through 2018, Isaac Herzog was a member of the Knesset, representing the Israeli Labor Party, being the party’s chairman from 2013 to 2018 as well as the leader of the opposition in the parliament. At various times, he held several ministerial posts, including housing and building, tourism, social affairs, the diaspora, society, and the fight against antisemitism as well as welfare and social services. He has been chairing the Jewish Agency for Israel since 2018. This non-governmental non-commercial organization aims "to secure a vibrant Jewish future for generations to come.".