The position is largely a ceremonial figurehead role, with executive power vested in the Government and the Prime Minister. The current president is Reuven Rivlin, who took office on 24 July 2014. Presidents are elected by the Knesset for a seven-year term and are limited to a single term
It's true as leaders did not want some of the goods coming into their colonies to become property of the king so they smuggled goods in in order to pocket more.
African countries struggled after their independence because they were usually owned by empires, and then when the empires left them, the poverty and violence rised.