Name? Isaac Herzog
Westphalian identity? Israeli
Age? 66
Why is he in the news? Following yesterday’s election, Israeli President Isaac Herzog has emerged as the most important person in the country. With 85% of the votes counted at the time of writing, there is no clear winner: neither the Netanyahu bloc nor the anti-Netanyahu bloc has reached the 61 seats required for a majority in the Knesset. The most interesting bloc is therefore the Arab one, which saw record voter turnout and could now become the kingmaker of any coalition, despite being accused by Netanyahu’s Likud party of election fraud.
Why do we care? As President, Herzog is now the one who has to decide which of the two camps receives the mandate to form a government. He has already advocated for everyone involved to keep an “open mind”.
Why should you care? “Israel’s most consequential election” is an overused phrase, as every election feels like the most consequential. This time, however, it holds. Following the escalation of violence after the October 7th attacks and the Israeli military operations that followed in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Yemen, Syria and Iran, Israelis had to decide where they want their country to go from here. Herzog has to take this into account when he hands out the mandate.
Who else cares? Donald Trump cares about Herzog and his decision for two reasons. First, he endorsed Netanyahu ahead of the election, as a close ally with whom he worked on the operation against Iran. Second, Netanyahu has requested a presidential pardon from Herzog for his ongoing corruption case, and Trump has written to Herzog asking him to grant it.
Any further comments? Herzog has three scenarios to consider: giving the mandate to the Netanyahu bloc, which lost seats, giving it to the anti-Netanyahu bloc, which gained seats, convincing them to form a coalition together. Alternatively, Israelis will soon be called back to the polls.
