JERUSALEM, June 13: Veteran statesman Shimon Peres was elected president of Israel on Wednesday, finally winning his first vote for top office and crowning a record-breaking career spanning more than half a century.

The sole candidate in a second round vote held in parliament after his rival contenders dramatically quit the race, Peres's victory was a triumph that laid to rest the ghosts of seven years ago when he famously lost the same ballot.

Elected by a landslide 86 votes to 23 in a result announced by parliament speaker Dalia Itzik and greeted by a spontaneous outburst of applause, he had been assured victory after rivals Reuven Rivlin and Colette Avital pulled out.

Wearing a white skullcap, the 83-year-old Nobel peace laureate gave a stirring speech vowing to unite the country as he stood before magnificent wall tapestries designed by artist Marc Chagall in the parliamentary lobby.

Peres’s election was the crowning triumph in a record-breaking career of an octogenarian who has held just about every major office in a career with a political pedigree second to none and stretching back five decades.—AFP