Incorrect.
I’ll just leave it at that, but suggest a re-read of Judges and the Samuels.
And I suggest that you please read 1 Samuel 8:7 in particular. They had a King right from the beginning, and what with Samuel being their last kritarch, this Kingship dates back to that aforementioned beginning.
Also go back to Deuteronomy 17:14-20, which foretold of the Israelites desiring to exchange their divine King for a human king.
Not to mention, Genesis 17:6 has God saying to Abraham “kings shall come out of thee” rather than “presidents shall come out of thee”. Exodus 19:6 has God telling Israel that they shall be “a kingdom of priests” rather than a republic of same; lest any of this be misperceived as a slight against the Founding Fathers, remember that one of their reputed rallying cries was “no King but Jesus”.
There are of course far more verses than that.