The new President of Israel, Isaac Herzog, will be the first to receive an NFT. Before Inauguration, Harzog will receive an NFT of the original oath signed by his late father. His father Chaim Herzog, was the sixth president of Israel.
According to local reports, the Knesset is apparently the first parliament in the world that has utilised blockchain technology. Knesset will give its elected president the wording of the declaration in the NFT version.
“I am thrilled to give President-elect Harzog a special memory from his father that includes the wording of the Oath he signed 38 years ago,” Knesset Speaker Mickey Levy said. “It is a great honor for the Knesset to implement one of the world’s most innovative technologies in order to preserve such a significant historical document for the future generations.”
About the NFT of Oath
The NFT oath reads, “I am the son of Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac Halevi and Rebbetzin Sarah Herzo, and I pledge to maintain allegiance to the State of Israel and its laws and to faithfully fulfil my role as President”. The document dates back to May 5, 1983. The president will read it from the podium in the Knesset Plenum.
The project was led by Knesset Director-General Gil Segal along with members of the Technology and Computing Division. They produced the unique image file using a secure and encrypted mobile device, delivered to Herzog before his inauguration.
The idea formed a week ago when the oath signed by the late president Chaim Herzog emerged from the depths of the Knesset Archives. The Knesset as a parliament advocating innovation managed to excite elected president Herzog. They are also going to give him a printed copy so that he could hang it in his new office. The idea behind the NFT was to merge the past and the present, combining a historical oath with modern technology.
NFT is a unique digital token generated on blockchain technology, that shows ownership of digital or physical assets. Many NFTs have fetched millions of dollars at high profile auctions. Recently, Sir Tim Berners Lee auctioned an NFT version of the World Wide Web original source code for $5.4 million.