Isaac Herzog

This article is about the President-elect of Israel. For his grandfather, the first Chief Rabbi of Ireland and later of Israel, see Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog.

Isaac Herzog
230px Herzog in January 2014
President-elect of Israel
Taking office 9 July 2021
Prime Minister	Benjamin Netanyahu
Succeeding	Reuven Rivlin
Leader of the Opposition
In office 25 November 2013 – 31 July 2018
Preceded by	Shelly Yachimovich
Succeeded by	Tzipi Livni
Minister of Welfare and Social Services
In office 21 March 2007 – 17 January 2011
Prime Minister	Ehud Olmert Benjamin Netanyahu
Preceded by	Ehud Olmert
Succeeded by	Moshe Kahlon
Minister of Diaspora, Society and the Fight Against Antisemitism
In office 21 March 2007 – 31 March 2009
Prime Minister	Ehud Olmert
Preceded by	Natan Sharansky
Succeeded by	Yuli-Yoel Edelstein
Minister of Tourism
In office 4 May 2006 – 21 March 2007
Prime Minister	Ehud Olmert
Preceded by	Avraham Hirschson
Succeeded by	Yitzhak Aharonovich
Minister of Housing and Construction
In office 10 January 2005 – 23 November 2005
Prime Minister	Ariel Sharon
Preceded by	Tzipi Livni
Succeeded by	Ze'ev Boim
Personal details
Born	(1960-09-22) 22 September 1960 Tel Aviv, Israel
Political party	Labor Party
Other political affiliations	Zionist Union (2015–2018)
Spouse(s)	Michal Herzog
Children	3
Alma mater	University of Tel Aviv Cornell University New York University

Isaac "Bougie" Herzog (Hebrew: יצחק "בוז׳י" הרצוג‎; born 22 September 1960) is an Israeli politician, Chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel, and the President-elect of Israel. The son of former Israeli President Chaim Herzog, he is a lawyer by profession and has served as the Government Secretary between 1999 and 2001 and as a member of the Knesset from 2003 to 2018. He held several ministerial posts between 2005 and 2011, including Minister of Welfare and Social Services (2007–11).

Formerly the chairman of the Labor Party and the Zionist Union alliance between 2013 and 2017, serving as the party's candidate for Prime Minister during the 2015 elections, he served as the opposition leader from 2013 until 2018.

In the 2021 Israeli presidential election, he was elected President of Israel and will be inaugurated on July 9.

Early life

Isaac (also spelled as Yitzhak) Herzog, aka "Bougie", was born in Tel Aviv, and is the son of General Chaim Herzog, who served two terms as the Sixth President of Israel from 1983 to 1993, and Aura Ambache, founder of the Council for a Beautiful Israel. His paternal grandfather, Rabbi Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog, was the first Chief Rabbi of Ireland from 1922 to 1935 and Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel from 1936 to 1959.

Herzog's father was born in Ireland and his mother was born in Egypt; their families were of Eastern European Jewish descent (from Poland, Russia, and Lithuania). He has two brothers and a sister.

Herzog was born in Tel Aviv. When his father served as Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations for three years, Herzog lived in New York and attended the Ramaz School. In the following years, while also studying in high school, Herzog gained an advanced academic education at Cornell University and New York University and spent summers at Camp Ramah. He also accompanied his father to visit the Lubavitcher Rebbe in Brooklyn.

When he returned to Israel at the end of 1978, he enlisted in the IDF and served as a major officer in Unit 8200 of the Intelligence Corps.

Herzog studied law at Tel Aviv University. He worked at a law firm founded by his father, Herzog, Fox & Ne'eman.

Political career

Although he did not win a seat in the 1999 elections, Herzog served as the Government Secretary in Ehud Barak's cabinet until 2001 when Barak was defeated by Ariel Sharon in a special election for Prime Minister. In 1999, he was also investigated in the "Amutot Barak" scandal (a scandal involving allegations that the party funding law was violated), but maintained his silence. The Attorney General, therefore, decided to close the case against him due to lack of evidence. From 2000 until 2003, he served as chairman of the Israel Anti-Drug Authority.

Herzog won a seat in the 2003 election as a member of the Labor Party, and was appointed Minister of Housing and Building at his request when Labor joined Ariel Sharon's coalition government on 10 January 2005. However, on 23 November 2005, he resigned from his cabinet post along with the rest of the party. Prior to the 2006 elections, Herzog won second place on Labor's list in the party's primaries. He was initially appointed Minister of Tourism in Ehud Olmert's Kadima-led coalition, but was reassigned to the Social Affairs ministry in March 2007 after Yisrael Beiteinu was awarded the Tourism Ministry following their late entry to the governing coalition, and was also appointed Minister of the Diaspora, Society and the Fight Against Antisemitism. He was again second on the party's list for the 2009 elections. Following the election, he was appointed Minister of Welfare & Social Services and Minister of the Diaspora, Society, and the Fight Against Antisemitism. In January 2009 he was appointed by PM Ehud Olmert as the Israel Government Coordinator for the provision of humanitarian aid to the population of Gaza. He later resigned from the cabinet after Ehud Barak left the Labor Party to establish Independence in January 2011.

In 2011 Herzog was an unsuccessful candidate for the Labor Party leadership. He finished third in the primaries that year after Shelly Yachimovich and Amir Peretz.

Opposition leader

On 22 November 2013 Herzog was elected leader of the Labor Party, defeating incumbent Shelly Yachimovich by 58.5% to 41.5%. In doing so, he became Leader of the Opposition. Whereas Yachimovich focused first on socioeconomic issues, Herzog prioritizes security and resolution of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.

Ten days after the election, Herzog met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to pledge his support for the two-state solution.

Herzog speaking at the Munich Security Conference, 2015

Herzog reportedly reached out to Shas leader Aryeh Deri to increase cooperation between the two opposition factions.

In June 2014, Herzog criticized PM Benjamin Netanyahu for failing to engage the international community, failing to present a proposal for peace with Palestinians, and failure to work effectively with the President of the United States, Barack Obama. Herzog declared that Netanyahu's "loathing and hostility for Barack Obama" was one of his greatest failures, since it put Israel's security at risk.

With the governing coalition dissolving and new elections expected in March 2015, Herzog called on Hatnua and Kadima parties to join his Labor Party in forming a new coalition. In an interview with YNET, he stated, "I am capable of replacing Netanyahu. I will do everything in order to establish a bloc before the elections." Shortly thereafter, Herzog and Tzipi Livni, who was justice minister and is head of a centrist faction, announced they would campaign on a joint slate in the upcoming election in an effort to keep Netanyahu, leader of the Likud Party, from securing a fourth term as prime minister. The joint list was named Zionist Union, winning 24 seats to Likud's 30 in the 2015 election, making it the largest Opposition faction.

Herzog in a meeting with Secretary of State John Kerry, January 2014

In July 2017, Herzog was eliminated in the first round of the Labor party primaries. Avi Gabbay went on to win the leadership elections; however, Herzog remained official leader of the opposition in the Knesset as Gabay was not an elected MK. After being elected chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel, Herzog resigned as Leader of the Opposition and from the Knesset. Tzipi Livni succeeded him as Leader of the Opposition, whilst Robert Tiviaev replaced him in the Knesset.

Chairman of the Jewish Agency

In June 2018 Herzog was unanimously elected chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel. Herzog marked bridging the gap between the Jewish people and the State of Israel as one of his objectives. In an interview on Ynet news, Herzog stated that he views intermarriage between Jews and non-Jews as a plague to which there must be a solution. On October 24, 2018, Herzog led a resolution to reaffirm the Jewish Agency's Board of Governors' commitment to the principles of a democratic Israel as emerging from the Declaration of Independence.

Following the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, Herzog expressed his concern from the rising anti-Semitism all over the world. In the International Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony at the European Parliament in Brussels he urged the leaders of European countries to fight anti-Semitism and to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of anti-Semitism. In March 2019 the Jewish Agency became the first public institution in Israel to help employees finance surrogacy services abroad so that they can become parents (this includes gay and single parents).

President of Israel

On 19 May 2021, Herzog announced his candidacy to be the 11th President of Israel in the 2021 Israeli presidential election. On 2 June 2021, Herzog was elected President by the Knesset.

Personal life

Herzog is married to Michal, a lawyer, and has three sons. He resides in his childhood home in the Tzahala neighborhood of Tel Aviv.

External links

• Isaac Herzog on the Knesset website

Party political offices
Preceded by Shelly Yachimovich	Leader of the Labor Party 2013–2017	Succeeded by Avi Gabbay
Position established	Co-leader of the Zionist Union 2014–2017
Political offices
Preceded by Shelly Yachimovich	Leader of the Opposition 2013–2018	Succeeded by Tzipi Livni
Preceded by Reuven Rivlin	President of Israel Elect Taking office 2021	Incumbent
Civic offices
Preceded by Natan Sharansky	Chairman of the Jewish Agency 2018–2021	TBD