By Lili Bayer and Maayan Lubell
JERUSALEM, Nov 2 (Reuters) - In a country where politics has become a bare-knuckled brawl, Isaac Herzog, the mild-mannered president now tasked with persuading Israel's party leaders to lower their fists and form a government, is a throwback to a gentler era.
Though no one would call him naive — he has served both as leader of the opposition against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and as a member of a unity cabinet under him — Herzog's soft-spoken manner can appear
out of step with the times.
The centre-left tradition from which he hails, which dominated Israel for generations, has all but vanished from the scene. In its place is a proliferation of mostly hawkish parties from the nominal centre to the far right, led by charismatic personalities known for bold stunts and caustic put-downs, in the model of Netanyahu himself.
After an October 27 election in which Netanyahu lost his governing majority but outperformed expectations and denied his opponents a clear path to unseat him, Herzog, 66, has called for dialogue. He has yet to say whether he will give the prime minister or rival Gadi Eisenkot the first chance to form a cabinet.
"I hope the representatives will come with an open mind and an open heart, to hear and to sound ideas and find creative solutions that would prevent another election," he said on Sunday.
CONCERNED ISRAEL IS IN 'DANGER OF UNRAVELLING'
Three former advisors who spoke to Reuters said they expect Herzog to push for the broadest government possible, to rescue the country from its political turmoil before it is too late.
"President Herzog is deeply concerned the country is falling off the rails and in genuine danger of unravelling from within," said his former advisor Eylon Levy.
Herzog did not immediately respond to a request for comment for this story. Political experts say the task of coaxing bitter rivals to form a government may yet prove impossible.
"That responsibility rests with the elected parties and their leaders, and I am not sure either side has that will," said Tel Aviv University political scientist Yael Shomer.
Gideon Rahat, a political scientist at the Israel Democracy Institute, said Herzog may work on two tracks: handing the mandate to one of the two leading candidates, while pushing behind the scenes for the parties of Netanyahu and Eisenkot to bury their differences and form a unity government.
"COME WITH AN OPEN MIND AND AN OPEN HEART"
Herzog is the first president to have been born inside Israel after its founding in 1948.
The scion of a storied political family — his late father, Chaim Herzog, also served as president for a decade — he is known by a playful childhood nickname, Buji, said to have been given to him by his mother as French-inflected wordplay on the Hebrew word for doll.
An intelligence officer in Israel's military and a lawyer by profession, Herzog was first elected to parliament in 2003 and held several government briefs before becoming leader of the Labour Party in 2013. As opposition leader, he was soundly defeated by Netanyahu in a 2015 election.
He was elevated to the presidency by the Knesset in 2021, days before a motley coalition finally managed to unseat Netanyahu for the first time in 12 years, after a succession of inconclusive elections.
But just 18 months later, he was obliged to preside over Netanyahu's return at the helm of a government that included the ultra-right for the first time.
Soon, Netanyahu launched a bid to curb the powers of Israel's Supreme Court, which sparked mass protests. Herzog stepped in to host compromise talks between Netanyahu and the opposition. A few months later, Hamas launched its October 7 attack on Israel, plunging the Middle East into turmoil as Israel went to war in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran.
Over the past year, Herzog has faced public pressure from US President Donald Trump to pardon Netanyahu from longstanding corruption charges.
Herzog has so far resisted, but some political experts believe he could yet have a role to play by offering some form of resolution to the criminal case against Netanyahu as part of a deal to form a unity government.
"I suspect a deal will be on the table. What type of a deal and will it be accepted by either side — that is a different story," said Shomer.
(Additional reporting by Dedi HayunWriting by Maayan LubellEditing by Peter Graff)
