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Isaac "Bougie" Herzog ( he, יצחק "בוז׳י" הרצוג, Yitskhak "Buzhi" Hertsog; born 22 September 1960) is an Israeli politician who has been serving as the 11th
president of Israel The president of the State of Israel ( he, נְשִׂיא מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, Nesi Medinat Yisra'el, or he, נְשִׂיא הַמְדִינָה, Nesi HaMedina, President of the State) is the head of state of Israel. The po ...
since 2021. He is the first president to be born in Israel after its Declaration of Independence. Son of former Israeli president
Chaim Herzog Aluf, Major-General Chaim Herzog ( he, חיים הרצוג; 17 September 1918 – 17 April 1997) was an Irish-born Israeli politician, general, lawyer and author who served as the List of Presidents of Israel, sixth President of Israel between ...
, he is a lawyer by profession and served as the Government Secretary from 1999 and 2001. He was a member of the
Knesset The Knesset ( he, הַכְּנֶסֶת ; "gathering" or "assembly") is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus has complete control of the entirety of the Israeli government (wit ...
from 2003 to 2018. He held several ministerial posts between 2005 and 2011, including serving as Minister of Welfare and Social Services from 2007 to 2011 under prime ministers Ehud Olmert and Benjamin Netanyahu. He served as chairman of the Labor Party and the Zionist Union alliance from 2013 and 2017. He served as the Leader of the Opposition from 2013 to 2018 and was the Labor Party candidate for prime minister during the 2015 elections. He was elected in the
2021 Israeli presidential election Indirect presidential elections were held in Israel on 2 June 2021. The President of Israel is elected by members of the Knesset for a single seven-year term. Incumbent President Reuven Rivlin, who had been in office since 24 July 2014, was ineli ...
and was inaugurated on 7 July 2021. He is the first son of an Israeli president to become president himself.


Early life and education

Isaac (Yitzhak) Herzog, aka "Bougie", was born in
Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...
. He is the son of General
Chaim Herzog Aluf, Major-General Chaim Herzog ( he, חיים הרצוג; 17 September 1918 – 17 April 1997) was an Irish-born Israeli politician, general, lawyer and author who served as the List of Presidents of Israel, sixth President of Israel between ...
, 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. Herzog's father was born in Ireland and his mother was born in
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...
; their families were of Eastern European Jewish descent (from Poland,
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...
, and Lithuania). He has two brothers and a sister. His paternal grandfather, Rabbi Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog, was the first Chief Rabbi of
Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...
from 1922 to 1935 and Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel from 1936 to 1959. The third foreign minister of Israel, Abba Eban, was his uncle. When his father served as permanent representative of Israel to the United Nations for three years, Herzog lived in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
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 Camp Ramah ( he, מחנה רמה, Machaneh Ramah) is a network of Jewish summer camps affiliated with the Conservative Movement. The camps operate in the United States, Canada, and Israel. All Ramah camps serve kosher food and are ''Shabbat''-obs ...
. He also accompanied his father to visit the Lubavitcher Rebbe in
Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
. When he returned to Israel at the end of 1978, he enlisted in the Israel Defense Forces and served as a major officer in Unit 8200 of the Israeli Intelligence Corps. Herzog studied law at Tel Aviv University. He worked at a law firm founded by his father, Herzog, Fox & Ne'eman.


Career

Although he did not win a seat in the 1999 elections, Herzog served as the secretary of the government 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 Israel National Authority for Community Safety ( he, הרשות הלאומית לביטחון קהילתי) is a governmental law enforcement agency of executive authority responsible for drafting state policy, legal regulation, control and monit ...
. Herzog won a seat in the 2003 election as a member of the Labor Party, and was appointed Minister of Housing and Construction 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 and Social Services and Minister of the Diaspora. 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 Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the stat ...
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 The two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict envisions an independent State of Palestine alongside the State of Israel, west of the Jordan River. The boundary between the two states is still subject to dispute and negotiation ...
. Herzog reportedly reached out to Shas leader
Aryeh Deri Aryeh Makhlouf Deri (, ), also Arie Deri, Arye Deri, or Arieh Deri (born 17 February 1959), is an Israeli politician. He is one of the founders of the Shas political party, and has served as Israel's Minister of the Interior, Minister of the ...
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 The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal gove ...
,
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...
. 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 Likud ( he, הַלִּיכּוּד, HaLikud, The Consolidation), officially known as Likud – National Liberal Movement, is a major centre-right to right-wing political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin and Ariel S ...
Party, from securing a fourth term as prime minister. The joint list was named
Zionist Union The Zionist Union ( he, הַמַחֲנֶה הַצִיּוֹנִי, translit. ''HaMaḥaneh HaẒiyoni'', lit. ''the Zionist Camp'') was a centre-left political alliance in Israel. It was established in December 2014 by the Israeli Labor Par ...
, winning 24 seats to Likud's 30 in the 2015 election, making it the largest Opposition faction. In July 2017, Herzog was eliminated in the first round of the Labor party primaries.
Avi Gabbay Avraham "Avi" Gabbay ( he, אַבְרָהָם "אָבִי" גַּבַּאי, born 22 February 1967) is an Israeli businessman and politician. He was CEO of the telecommunications company Bezeq from 2007 to 2013, then entered politics. He served ...
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 The Pittsburgh synagogue shooting was an antisemitic terrorist attack which took place at the Tree of Life – Or L'Simcha Congregation synagogue in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The congregation, al ...
, Herzog expressed his concern from the rising anti-Semitism all over the world. In the International Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony at the
European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the Legislature, legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven Institutions of the European Union, institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and in ...
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 in the
2021 Israeli presidential election Indirect presidential elections were held in Israel on 2 June 2021. The President of Israel is elected by members of the Knesset for a single seven-year term. Incumbent President Reuven Rivlin, who had been in office since 24 July 2014, was ineli ...
. On 2 June 2021, he was elected as president by the
Knesset The Knesset ( he, הַכְּנֶסֶת ; "gathering" or "assembly") is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus has complete control of the entirety of the Israeli government (wit ...
. He won more votes than any presidential candidate in Israel's history, receiving 87 votes compared to 26 for his opponent Miriam Peretz, and was sworn in on 7 July 2021, becoming the first son of a former Israeli president to also become president. In his inaugural speech as
President of the State of Israel The president of the State of Israel ( he, נְשִׂיא מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, Nesi Medinat Yisra'el, or he, נְשִׂיא הַמְדִינָה, Nesi HaMedina, President of the State) is the head of state of Israel. The posi ...
, on 7 July 2022, Herzog called for the healing of rifts in Israeli society and the building of bridges within Israel and between Israel and the Jewish Diaspora. Herzog said: “We must remember that it was baseless hatred that led to the destruction of the First and Second Temples. The same baseless hatred, the same factionalism and polarization that claim such a heavy price from us—nowadays, and every day. The heaviest price of all is the erosion of our national resilience.” Herzog also emphasized the importance of confronting the climate crisis. Since entering the Israeli presidency, Herzog has conducted a number of major state visits. On 30 January 2022, Herzog conducted a historic state visit to the
United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (Middle East, The Middle East). It is ...
. In March 2022, Herzog embarked on a regional tour of neighboring Mediterranean states, taking in
Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...
,
Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ...
, and a state visit to
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...
together with the First Lady, as the guests of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his wife Emine. Following months of dialogue since Herzog’s election as president, the presidents met for a summit at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, symbolizing their countries’ desire to move on from a period of tense relations. During the visit, Herzog addressed the “baggage of the past,” which he said “never disappears of its own accord,” and underscored that the Israeli-Turkish relationship would be determined by both states’ actions. In the latter part of his Turkish visit, as part of a broader policy of strengthening relations with the Jewish Diaspora during foreign engagements, Herzog and his wife Michal visited the
Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...
Jewish community at the
Neve Shalom Synagogue Neve Shalom Synagogue ( tr, Neve Şalom Sinagogu, he, בית הכנסת נווה שלום; lit. "Oasis of Peace" or "Valley of Peace") is a synagogue in the Karaköy quarter of Beyoğlu district, in Istanbul, Turkey. The synagogue was built in ...
, the target of various terror attacks over the years. On 29 March 2022, Herzog conducted a historic first public visit by an Israeli leader to Amman, Jordan, during which he met King Abdullah II, with whom he discussed to deepen the Israeli-Jordanian relationship, maintain regional stability, and bolster peace and normalization. Further to his declared objective of embarking on a journey within Israeli society, and as part of his public engagements in Israel and visits to its diverse communities, on 29 October 2021 Herzog participated in a memorial for the victims of the 1956 Kafr Qasim Massacre and apologized on behalf of the
State of Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
, making him the first Israeli official to ask for forgiveness at the official ceremony in Kafr Qasim. In his speech, Herzog said: “The killing and injury of innocents are absolutely forbidden. They must remain beyond all political arguments.” In October 2021, Herzog announced the establishment of the Israeli Climate Forum under the auspices of the Office of the President, appointing former Member of Knesset
Dov Khenin Dov Boris Khenin ( he, דב חנין; born 10 January 1958) is an Israeli politician, political scientist and lawyer who served in the Knesset as a member of the Joint List. He was a member of the central committee of Maki (the Israeli Communis ...
as the forum’s chairman. The forum oversees a number of working groups focusing on different issues and brings together public officials and private citizens to coordinate efforts to combat the climate crisis. In his “Renewable Middle East” speech, delivered at the Haaretz Climate Change Forum, Herzog spelled out a vision for how the climate crisis presented opportunities for regional cooperation across the
Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
and Mediterranean Basin. On 28 November 2021, Herzog lit candles for the first night of Chanukah at the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, attracting left-wing criticism. Visiting Hebron, Herzog declared that recognition of the Jewish People’s historical attachments to Hebron “must be beyond all controversy.” In December 2021, Herzog launched his “Think Good” campaign, with the objective of combating cyberbullying. The campaign, in collaboration with Meta, promoted respectful and inclusive discourse online.


Personal life

Herzog is married to Michal, a lawyer, and has three sons. He resides in his childhood home in the
Tzahala Tzahala (Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was ...
neighborhood of Tel Aviv.


References


External links

* , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Herzog, Isaac 1960 births Living people 20th-century Israeli lawyers 21st-century Israeli lawyers Children of national leaders Cornell University alumni Government ministers of Israel Isaac Israeli Jews Israeli Labor Party leaders Israeli people of Egyptian-Jewish descent Israeli people of Irish-Jewish descent Israeli people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent Israeli people of Polish-Jewish descent Israeli people of Russian-Jewish descent Jewish Israeli politicians Leaders of the Opposition (Israel) Levites Members of the 16th Knesset (2003–2006) Members of the 17th Knesset (2006–2009) Members of the 18th Knesset (2009–2013) Members of the 19th Knesset (2013–2015) Members of the 20th Knesset (2015–2019) Ministers of Tourism of Israel New York University alumni Politicians from Tel Aviv Presidents of Israel Ramaz School alumni Tel Aviv University alumni Zionist Union politicians Heads of state of states with limited recognition Lawyers from Tel Aviv