Isaac Herzog

Overview

Isaac Herzog is an Israeli lawyer and public official who became the 11th president of Israel in 2021. His career has spanned military intelligence, legal practice, cabinet government, parliamentary opposition and leadership of the Jewish Agency. Elected president after years of work with Jewish communities abroad, he entered office promising to strengthen bonds within Israeli society, defend its democratic institutions and reinforce Israel’s standing internationally.

On June 2, 2021, the Knesset elected Herzog by secret ballot with 87 votes, the widest winning margin in an Israeli presidential election. He succeeded Reuven Rivlin and began a single seven-year term on July 9, 2021. His presidency has included efforts to address divisions over judicial reform, represent Israel abroad and support families affected by the October 7 attacks and the ensuing hostage crisis.

Early life

Herzog was born in Tel Aviv on September 22, 1960, into a family prominent in Israeli public and religious life. His father, Chaim Herzog, served as Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations and later as its sixth president. His grandfather, Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog, was Israel’s Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi. Isaac Herzog’s upbringing thus connected him to both Israel’s state institutions and Jewish religious leadership.

During his father’s diplomatic service, Herzog lived in New York and attended the Ramaz School. While still in high school, he studied at Cornell University and New York University. He returned to Israel at the end of 1978 and enlisted in the Israel Defense Forces. He served in Unit 8200 of the Intelligence Corps and left military service with the rank of major. Afterward, he earned a law degree from Tel Aviv University and worked at Herzog, Fox & Ne’eman, the law firm founded by his father.

Career

Before entering elected politics, Herzog served as secretary of the Economic-Social Council from 1988 to 1990, government secretary from 1999 to 2001, and chairman of Israel’s Anti-Drug Authority from 2000 to 2003. He entered the 16th Knesset in 2003 as a Labor Party member. His parliamentary work included service on the Finance, Internal Affairs and Environment, and Anti-Drug Abuse Committees, as well as a period as Labor’s parliamentary group whip.

Herzog became minister of housing and construction in January 2005 and held that portfolio until November. He served as tourism minister from May 2006 until March 2007, when he became minister of social affairs and services. After the 2009 election, his responsibilities included welfare and social services alongside a portfolio covering the diaspora, society and the fight against Jew hatred. He resigned from the cabinet in January 2011 after Ehud Barak left Labor to establish the Independence Party. By June 2011, Herzog was serving on the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.

In November 2013, Herzog defeated Shelly Yachimovich to become chairman of the Labor Party and leader of the parliamentary opposition. Ten days after his election, he met PLO leader Mahmoud Abbas and pledged support for a two-state solution. For the 2015 Knesset election, Herzog led the Zionist Union alliance against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Zionist Union won 24 seats, placing second to Netanyahu’s Likud, which won 30. Herzog remained an opposition leader after the vote.

Israeli authorities opened an investigation in 2016 into suspected illegal donations connected to Herzog’s 2013 Labor leadership campaign. Police subsequently recommended closing the case, citing insufficient evidence for criminal proceedings. Herzog denied wrongdoing. The inquiry formed part of the public record of his party leadership but did not end his political career.

Herzog later chaired the Jewish Agency, working to strengthen ties between Israel and Jewish communities abroad and to confront rising Jew hatred. That experience became a defining part of his presidential candidacy. After his election, he pledged to build bridges both within Israeli society and with Jews living elsewhere. In July 2021, shortly after he took office, the Institute for National Security Studies presented him with findings and recommendations on Israel’s strategic challenges, including regional security and tensions within Israeli society.

His presidency also involved regional and international diplomacy. Herzog visited Bahrain in December 2022, the first state visit there by an Israeli president. Hundreds of Bahrainis demonstrated ahead of the visit, while Herzog met Bahraini leaders and presented the trip as an opportunity to deepen relations. In July 2023, he addressed the United States Congress, speaking about the partnership between Israel and the United States and the resilience of Israeli democracy.

Ideology and statements

Herzog has identified social repair, Israel’s international standing, opposition to Jew hatred and protection of democratic institutions as presidential priorities. At the AJC Global Forum in Tel Aviv in 2023, he discussed judicial reform, relations with Jewish communities abroad and the Abraham Accords. Amid fierce domestic disagreement over proposed changes to Israel’s judiciary, he urged dialogue between coalition and opposition leaders and presented a compromise framework. His intervention reflected the president’s role as a national figure seeking agreement across party lines, though the competing political positions remained sharply divided.

Herzog has also defended Zionism as the Jewish people’s national movement for return and self-determination in its historic homeland, the Land of Israel. In a January 27, 2025, address to the United Nations marking 80 years since the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, he condemned the organization’s 1975 resolution that falsely equated Zionism with racism. His remarks linked remembrance of the Holocaust with opposition to contemporary Jew hatred and defense of the Jewish state.

In 2026, after Israeli police prevented Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa from entering Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre for Palm Sunday worship amid security restrictions, Herzog called the cardinal. He expressed sorrow over the incident and reaffirmed Israel’s commitment to religious freedom and the arrangements governing Jerusalem’s holy sites. His response placed freedom of worship among the principles he sought to uphold as president.

Role in attacks or conflicts

Herzog did not direct military operations as president, but the Hamas terrorist organization’s October 7, 2023, attacks placed him in a prominent public role during war and national trauma. He met affected families, spoke about Israel’s security and repeatedly pressed for the return of people taken hostage into Gaza. He also addressed the rise in Jew hatred following the attacks and urged international audiences to distinguish Israel’s defense of its citizens from the actions of Hamas.

At the United Nations in January 2025, Herzog called for the release of the hostages held by Hamas. He invoked the experience of Omer Neutra, killed during the October 7 attacks, and spoke about the yellow ribbon adopted by Neutra’s family as a symbol of the hostages. Herzog criticized international institutions for failing to confront terrorism and Jew hatred consistently. His address combined Holocaust remembrance with an appeal for action on the hostage crisis.

Death or current status

Herzog remained Israel’s president in 2026. His single seven-year term began on July 9, 2021, following Rivlin’s departure from office. He continued to represent Israel, engage with Jewish communities abroad and address disputes and crises within Israeli society.

Legacy

Herzog’s career joins several strands of Israeli public life: service in military intelligence, legal work, Labor Party politics, cabinet administration and leadership of an institution connecting Israel with Jews worldwide. His election with 87 Knesset votes gave him an unusually broad parliamentary mandate for a largely representative office. The Washington Institute for Near East Policy honored him with its Scholar-Statesman Award for unifying leadership during a year of national trauma and war. His presidency is closely associated with efforts to preserve social cohesion through the judicial reform dispute and with public advocacy for hostages and Jewish communities after October 7.