The Players

I thought it would be helpful to know the top ten Middle Eastern countries by population and their presidents.

EGYPT
79 million
The fourth and current President of Egypt is Hosni Mubarak. His first term began on 14 October 1981, and as of September 2005 is serving his fifth term in office. There is no constitutional limit upon the number of terms that any one individual can serve as President.

IRAN
75 million
The current President of Iran is Mahmoud Ahmadinejad since the Iranian presidential election, 2005. He was reelected after the disputed Iranian presidential election, 2009.

TURKEY
72 million
The office of the President of Turkey was established with the proclamation of the Republic of Turkey on October 29, 1923. Current office-holder is the 11th president, Abdullah Gül since August 28, 2007.

IRAQ
31 million
The current Prime Minister of Iraq is Nouri al-Maliki, who holds most of the executive authority and appoints the Council of Ministers, which acts as a cabinet and/or government. The current Presidency Council, a transitional replacement for the President of Iraq who serves largely as a figurehead with few powers, is composed of Jalal Talabani, Tariq al-Hashimi, and Adel Abdul Mehdi.

SAUDI ARABIA
27 million
Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, born August 1, 1924 is the current King of Saudi Arabia, and head of the House of Saud. He succeeded to the throne and assumed the title of King upon the death of his half-brother, King Fahd, on August 1, 2005.

YEMEN
24 million
His Excellency Ali Abdullah Saleh, born March 21, 1946, is the first and current President of Republic of Yemen. Saleh previously served as President of the Yemen Arab Republic (North Yemen) from 1978 until 1990, when he assumed office of president of Republic of Yemen (North & South Yemen). He is the longest-serving president of Yemen, ruling for more than 32 years and counting.

SYRIA
22 million
Syria's current president is Bashar al-Assad, who won a referendum on extending his presidency for second term, garnering 97.62 percent of votes in 2007 and is the son of Hafez al-Assad, who held office from 1970 until his death in 2000.

ISRAEL
7 million
The Prime Minister of Israel is the head of the Israeli government and the most powerful political figure in Israel (the title of President of Israel is an honorary position). The prime minister is the country's chief executive. The official residence of the prime minister, Beit Rosh Hamemshala is in Jerusalem. The current prime minister is Benjamin Netanyahu of Likud, the ninth person to hold the position.

JORDAN
6 million
Abdullah II bin al-Hussein, born 30 January 1962, is the current King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. He ascended the throne on 7 February 1999 after the death of his father King Hussein. King Abdullah is a member of the Hashemite family. Abdullah has been married to Queen Rania of Jordan since 1993 and his mother is Princess Muna al-Hussein. Queen Noor of Jordan, born 23 August 1951, is the last wife and widow of King Hussein of Jordan. She was queen consort of Jordan between 1978 and 1999. Since her husband's death in 1999, she has been queen dowager of Jordan. American by birth, and of Syrian, British, and Swedish descent, she acquired Jordanian citizenship and renounced her American citizenship at the time of her marriage. She is the current president of the United World Colleges movement and an advocate of the anti-nuclear weapons proliferation campaign, Global Zero.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
4 million
The current President is Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Nahyan became president on 3 November 2004, following the death of his father, Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan