German-Israeli relations | Izchak Herzog: President without qualities

If you were to ask an average Israeli to describe Yitzhak Herzog —the country's president since 2021—they would probably initially be silent. And if a word is mentioned at all, it would probably be "weak." In a highly militarized country like Israel, that might even sound positive at first. But that's not how it's meant. The weakness of the Labor Party president is evident above all in his hesitant attitude toward the leadership style of right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which is characterized by racial division and corruption .

This sets Herzog apart from his predecessor, Reuven Rivlin, who – despite his ultra-conservative stance – consistently defended the rule of law and even advocated for the Palestinian minority within Israel. Herzog, on the other hand, avoids any open confrontation with Netanyahu – much to the annoyance of many Israelis who protested en masse against the controversial judicial reform . New revelations in the newspaper "Haaretz" suggest that even before his presidency, as opposition leader, Herzog attempted to influence a witness in the corruption investigations against Netanyahu and businessman Arnon Milchen. He himself is said to have maintained close ties with the billionaire, who is suspected of bribery.

Much more serious, however – even on the international stage – is his open support for war crimes. Right at the beginning of his term in office, he visited Hebron in the West Bank and expressed solidarity with the extremist settlers in the illegally occupied city – the very site of a massacre of dozens of Muslim worshippers in 1994. That same year, Herzog described the decision of the Jewish-American ice cream manufacturer Ben & Jerry's to stop selling its ice cream in the settler-occupied areas of the West Bank as a "new form of terror."

Especially after the brutal Hamas attack on October 7, the former leader of the Israeli peace camp attracted attention with his inflammatory statements. His claim that "an entire nation" stood behind Hamas's actions and that the "rhetoric of innocent civilians (...) was completely untrue" was even cited in the International Court of Justice's ruling in the Gaza genocide trial. Hertzog later expressed outrage at the ICJ's "anti-Semitic 'blood lie'."

While Israel's government is using starvation of the civilian population as a weapon of war and openly planning an ethnic cleansing of the entire Gaza Strip, political Berlin may see the visit of the once liberal head of state as the best opportunity to honor the 60 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries without having to invite Prime Minister Netanyahu or his right-wing cabinet members. Because of the International Criminal Court's arrest warrant against Netanyahu on suspicion of war crimes, Germany would be obligated to extradite him.

By receiving Herzog, however, Germany is by no means strengthening the growing opposition to the war or the movement for a deal to rescue the Israeli hostages held by Hamas, but is courting a political figure who has contributed to their weakening at every crucial point.