The quagmire in which President Isaac Herzog currently finds himself – whether or not to grant a pardon to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as proceedings on criminal charges against him continue – is a case of role reversal in US-Israel relations.
The job of the president in Israel, often referred to as a largely ceremonial role, has been seen as a unifying position. Supposedly removed from the political process, though elected by the Knesset, the president has often acted on a societal level, inviting members of different sectors to the President’s Residence in Jerusalem, or traveling to their communities.
The president looks out for the proverbial little guy, who might become forgotten amid the rough and tumble of the Israeli political scene. The president listens to the people.
Regarding the issues of international diplomacy, and war and peace with our neighbors, the president has often shown little public involvement. When visiting other countries or hosting foreign dignitaries here, the president represents a unified face of Israel to the larger world.
However, that has not always been the case, and Netanyahu, serving as prime minister for so many years, has been confronted by two presidents who acted very openly in challenging his policy.
Netanyahu vs Weizman and Clinton
Netanyahu’s first term as prime minister, 1996-1999, coincided with Ezer Weizman’s tenure as president. Known throughout his political career as a figure willing to confront the leadership, and having a personality that employed blunt language, Weizman was watched closely as he entered the presidency. Anyone who thought he would change his approach in order to fit into the more traditional presidential role was proved wrong.
For his part, Netanyahu had succeeded Shimon Peres, who succeeded Yitzhak Rabin in the Prime Minister’s Office following Rabin’s assassination in 1995. The world watched to see how Netanyahu would proceed with the Oslo Accords, which involved handing over more territory and expanding self-rule to the Palestinian Authority, a process that began during Rabin’s term.
Weizman, together with then-US president Bill Clinton, wanted to move ahead. Netanyahu was stuck in the middle. He was skeptical – others would say more cautious – about continuing the Oslo process. The Clinton administration considered Weizman to be a conduit who could nudge Netanyahu along.
Weizman felt at home with that task and tried to push the prime minister to expand Palestinian self-rule. His cajoling was carried out both privately and publicly.
Weizman was not the type to sit idly by, and the relationship between the Israeli president and prime minister was a sight to behold, with Clinton encouraging Weizman to help the US administration with its Mideast policy.
The Clinton-Netanyahu relationship was considered cordial by some, a love-hate relationship by others, as Clinton was a smooth politician maneuvering between Weizman and Netanyahu.
Obama and Peres; Herzog and Biden
After a decade out of the Prime Minister’s Office, Netanyahu returned in 2009. He now had to grapple with Barack Obama in the White House. Israel’s president was Shimon Peres.
Like Weizman, Peres spoke out publicly in criticizing Netanyahu. Some would characterize Peres as a nemesis to the prime minister. Others would say that the Israeli president was acting as a calming influence amid a very problematic relationship between Obama and Netanyahu.
Peres was replaced by Reuven Rivlin, a more traditional Israeli president, though he had differences with Netanyahu that were also personal.
Then came our current president, Isaac Herzog. After a brief time away, Netanyahu returned to the Prime Minister’s Office. Then October 7 happened.
Joe Biden was now US president. Biden’s administration fended off criticism among progressive US Democrats of his support for Israel in the Israel-Hamas War, saying that it’s not about Netanyahu, but instead a just war waged by an important ally, the State of Israel.
Before the war, in July 2023, Herzog had addressed a joint session of the US Congress. The official reason given for the invitation was that it marked the 75th anniversary of the establishment of an important ally.
A year later, Netanyahu was afforded the same honor, though his meeting during that visit with then-US vice president Kamala Harris, who was becoming a presidential candidate, was so cold that the dark humor going around was that the heat had to be turned up in the room even though it was the middle of summer.
Enter Trump
Harris lost, and instead, Donald Trump became president. Now we have a US president and an Israeli prime minister working closely together. They have jointly delivered a one-two punch on the Israeli president, calling on him to pardon the prime minister even as the proceedings on Netanyahu’s criminal charges continue. Herzog is now the one stuck in the middle.
The calls have been made not only privately, but also very publicly, especially when Trump did so from the Knesset podium in October. You couldn’t get much more public than that, as Herzog sat nearby.
Earlier, there was Weizman-Clinton taking on Netanyahu, then Peres trying to move Netanyahu closer to Obama. This time, Netanyahu has Trump pressuring Herzog.
Weizman told Netanyahu that it was important to work with the Americans; Peres told Netanyahu that it was important to work with the Americans; now Netanyahu is telling Herzog that even the American president says that a pardon is necessary.
Many years ago, I conducted a live radio interview on Kol Yisrael-English with Herzog, who was still developing on the political scene. I accidentally introduced him by his father’s name, Chaim. He replied: “Certainly you must mean Isaac.”
Later that day, I was in the Knesset and saw him walking in the corridors. I apologized that I had called him by the wrong name. He put his arm on my shoulder and replied: “I’ve been called worse.”
Chaim Herzog served as president, and his son, who has been president since July 2021, has assumed the office amid the COVID pandemic, followed by the judicial overhaul unrest, and a multi-front war. Now he has the challenge of whether to pardon Netanyahu.
“I’ve been called worse,” he said many years ago. What will he be called now? What will his legacy be?
The writer is the op-ed editor of The Jerusalem Post.