ISRAEL-ELECTION/ HERZOG PROFILE Profile of centre-left Zionist Union leader Isaac Herzog ahead of Israel's March 17 poll

Record ID: 401048

  • Title: ISRAEL-ELECTION/ HERZOG PROFILE Profile of centre-left Zionist Union leader Isaac Herzog ahead of Israel's March 17 poll
  • Date: 11th March 2015
  • Summary: HERZOG WORK IN HIS OFFICE
  • Embargoed: 26th March 2015 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Spain
  • Country: Spain
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA2G7W0W9G8RVGEFSQFW3F3T3V6
  • Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS VIDEO WHICH WAS ORIGINALLY 4:3
    Isaac Herzog, head of Labour party and co-leader of the centre-left Zionist Union, who joined forces with former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, is set to challenge Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the March 17 parliamentary election.
    Herzog, a former major in an elite military intelligence unit, is an Israeli blue blood - a son of a former president, grandson of a renowned rabbi and nephew of one Israel's most notable foreign ministers.
    A lawyer who has headed the Labour Party since 2013, Herzog, 54, was first elected to parliament in 2003 and has held a series of cabinet posts in various coalitions.
    In the election campaign, he has partnered with centrist Tzipi Livni, with both agreeing to a two-year rotation as prime minister should the party form the next government.
    Herzog has called for efforts to revive the peace process with the Palestinians but, echoing Netanyahu, he has said major Jewish settlement blocs in the occupied West Bank should remain in Israeli hands in any future peace deal.
    Battling Netanyahu's accusations he is soft on national security, Herzog has vowed to boost efforts to focus voters on his own military and strategic credentials.
    But Herzog's mild demeanour is widely seen as an impediment toward persuading right-wingers who may have soured on Netanyahu, an ex-commando, over issues such as the high cost of food and housing that they can safely shift their support to him.
    Thus far, Herzog's party has focused his campaign on tapping into public anger over Israel's high cost of living, while Netanyahu has spoken daily of the dangers presented by Iran's nuclear programme and Islamist militants.
    While neck-and-neck in the polls with the centre-left, Netanyahu is still seen as the person most likely to cobble together a coalition of like-minded parties on the right.
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