Wagering on a plea deal for Netanyahu, Herzog takes a risky bet on his pareve approach

When he ran for Israel’s top job in 2015, Isaac Herzog pitched himself as a different kind of candidate from his opponent, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He was derided as reedy in both stature and voice, but tried to spin those things as advantages: He campaigned as a “thoughtful and responsible leader” focused more on quietly building consensus than on being the loudest guy in the room. Israelis didn’t go for it. Despite polls consistently showing a slight advantage for Herzog’s Zionist Union party, Netanyahu decisively won the election, sending Herzog back to the opposition and eventually out of the Knesset. Running for president six years later, he tried again, this time campaigning to win the votes of 61 Knesset members—and succeeded with flying colors. In the 2021 presidential race, Herzog won 87 out of 120 possible votes, more than in any contested presidential election in Israeli history.

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