Netanyahu's polar opposite Herzog leads in polls.
Photo: Reuters
Herzog - Zionist Union's diplomatic answer to Netanyahu
Voters who are looking for the polar opposite of Netanyahu find answer with Zionist Union front runner Isaac Herzog who compared to bombastic Netanyahu is modest, diplomatic and has a strong political pedigree.
If voters are looking for the polar opposite of Israel’s current prime minister in Tuesday’s election, main contender Isaac Herzog
certainly fits the bill.
Modest, diplomatic and with a strong political pedigree, center-left Zionist Union chief Herzog could hardly be more different from current bombastic leader – Benjamin Netanyahu.
Herzog and Livni at Carmel Market. (Photo: Motti Kimchi)
Some have accused Herzog of lacking charisma, but the 54-year-old lawyer says that after three consecutive terms of Netanyahu, the time has come for a change.
“When I ran for the leadership of the Labor party, they said: 'He has no charisma, no chance' ... and when I said a year ago that I would be the alternative to Netanyahu’s government, they laughed at me,” Herzog recently said.
“Just as I surprised everyone in the past, I am going to surprise everyone this time too.
The only realistic challenger to right-winger Netanyahu, Herzog – whose Labor Party has joined forces with the centrist HaTnuah to form the Zionist Union – will Tuesday face the ultimate test as Israelis head to the polls to choose a new leader.
After six years of Netanyahu, Israelis are yearning for something new, with months of electioneering reduced to one pithy if unofficial slogan: “Anyone but Bibi.”
Recent polls have shown the Zionist Union pulling ahead of Netanyahu’s Likud and likely to win a handful more seats.
Still, Herzog is making a bid for the leader of a party that has not fielded a winning candidate since 1999 and whose historic prominence as Israel’s main political force in the first three decades after independence has faded to a distant memory.
And even if he does win, it could be a Pyrrhic victory, with experts agreeing that unlike Netanyahu, Herzog will struggle to piece together a government coalition.
A lawyer by profession, Herzog was first elected to the Israeli parliament, or Knesset, in 2003 and spent a decade working in series of Cabinet portfolios until taking over the leadership of crisis-hit Labor in November 2013.
Becoming premier would be a fitting career path for the Tel Aviv-born politician, a scion of one of Israel’s most prestigious families – sometimes referred to as Israel’s version of the Kennedys.
His Irish-born father, Chaim Herzog, served as head of military intelligence then went on to become Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations and finally the nation’s sixth president, from 1983 to 1993.
Herzog’s grandfather and namesake – Rabbi Yitzhak (Isaac) HaLevi Herzog – was Israel’s first Ashkenazi chief rabbi.
Before entering the Knesset, he served as government secretary under Labor premier Ehud Barak, then from 2005 held portfolios including housing, tourism and welfare.
Under Labor predecessor Shelly Yachimovich, the party focus turned to social issues at the expense of its historic involvement in the Middle East peace process.
But in the 15 months since taking the helm, Herzog has tried to steer it back toward peace, holding talks in Ramallah with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas just 10 days after he was elected.
Herzog has pledged to revive peace talks with the Palestinians, which collapsed almost a year ago, saying he was even prepared to “remove” Israeli settlements if necessary.
He has also vowed to implement comprehensive social and economic reforms and work to rehabilitate Israel’s relationship with US President Barack Obama.
Married with three children, Herzog still lives in the house where he grew up in Tel Aviv and answers to the nickname “Bougie” – reportedly given him by his Egyptian-born mother who mixed the French word for doll “poupée” with its Hebrew equivalent “buba.”
