Peres to run for presidency

"I have decided to be a candidate for the presidency of the state," the Nobel peace laureate told lawmakers from his centrist Kadima party ahead of a June 13 vote in parliament on the new head of state.

"I have decided to thus respond to the requests of numerous Israelis, including the prime minister, lawmakers and ordinary people to provide what could ultimately be my last contribution to the country," said the 83-year-old deputy prime minister.

Peres ran for the largely ceremonial post seven years ago, but suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Moshe Katsav, then a relative unknown who is today ending his term in disgrace amid a looming indictment on a string of charges including rape.

"I have held practically all of the most senior public posts, I have known failures but also successes," Peres said, adding that he would become president "with God's help."

The remark was a tacit admission that his assuming the post was far from certain, despite a political pedigree that eclipses any rival, having held just about every major office in a career stretching back half a century.