Yitzhak Ben-Zvi Mapai Zalman Shazar Mapai An election for President of Israel was held in the Knesset on 21 May 1963 following the death of the president Yitzhak Ben-Zvi on 23 April.

Author, poet and politician Zalman Shazar was elected to the office.

Between Ben-Zvi's death and Shazar taking office on the day of the vote, Knesset speaker Kadish Luz served as acting president.

There were two candidates: The election was settled in the first round, with Shazar gaining an outright majority of votes in the 120-seat Knesset.