Senior official and associates of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert are pushing for the election of Tel Aviv’s chief rabbi, Yisrael Meir Lau as Israel’s next president. There are talks of a steering committee forming within in the Knesset for a majority vote for Lau in the 2007 presidential elections. However, other sources in the PM’s office denied reports of such a committee. Others intending to run for president include the National Infrastructure Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer (Labor), former Knesset Speaker MK Reuben Rivlin (Likud), and also former Knesset member David Levy.