As his presidency enters its final stretch, Isaac Herzog lays out his three priorities for Israel

SEPTEMBER 12, 2026 13:27President Isaac Herzog has a little under two years left before he completes his seven-year term of office. His three key priorities in the months ahead will be diplomacy, strengthening the bonds of Jewish peoplehood, and healing divisions within Israeli society.He intends to visit more of the communities that have consistently faced rising antisemitism since October 7.Such visits, he says, are at the core of two of his initiatives. One is Voice of the People, which brings together a global council of Jews from Israel, North America, and the rest of the Diaspora to unite in building the future leadership of the Jewish people. Applications for the second cohort of Voice of the People are due to open shortly.The selection process will be conducted by an algorithm. Herzog urges all those who care about the future of the Jewish people to lodge an application.Time to Talk, the president’s second major initiative, is designed to heal rifts within Israeli society and to foster dialogue, understanding, and mutual respect.President Isaac Herzog addresses the Israeli people at the beginning of the 2026 election campaign on July 21, 2026. (credit: KOBI GIDEON/GPO)Principles 'put to the test' this election seasonHerzog believes that as Israel approaches the Knesset elections in October, the principles of negotiation and mutual respect will be put to the test.Since taking office in July 2021, Herzog has visited some 35 countries – some on state visits and some for special occasions such as the coronation of Britain’s King Charles, the Paris Olympics, the 80th anniversary of the Babi Yar massacre in Ukraine, and the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. State visits have been to countries as distant as Azerbaijan in the north and Australia in the south.All of the president’s trips abroad are marked by a strong diplomatic element. “Since October 7, Israel has faced an onslaught of lies, attacks, and delegitimization in the international arena,” explains Herzog. “I will continue to present the real truth in diplomatic forums and the media. I will also work to strengthen Israel’s diplomatic ties with our partners and friends both near and far. In the Middle East, we continue to see the great importance of strengthening the Abraham Accords and expanding this circle of peace in our region.”On the subject of Jewish peoplehood, Herzog places great significance in assuring Jewish communities abroad that the president of Israel cares about them and what they are experiencing.He meets with Jewish community leaders in Israel and in their home countries. He hosts Jewish community delegations and listens closely to all the participants. A feature of such meetings is that Herzog does not confine himself to listening only to the president, chairperson, and CEO of an organization, but asks each and every participant to introduce themselves and to impart whatever it is that they want to tell him.Herzog’s rapport with Diaspora Jews comes naturally. He spent part of his youth as a student at the Ramaz School in New York and at New York University during the period in which his father headed the Israeli delegation to the United Nations. More recently, Herzog came to the presidency straight from the chairmanship of the Jewish Agency, whose multi-level relationship with Diaspora Jewish communities is ironclad.With one possible exception, all of Israel’s presidents came from extensive political backgrounds. Yet the presidency in Israel is an apolitical role even though the president is elected by Knesset vote. The head of state treads a very fine line in an effort to keep the office aloof from politics, but in a country in which everything is tainted by politics, it is very difficult for Citizen No.1 to express approval or disapproval of any development without someone placing a political interpretation on that statement.Violence in the West BankAn example is Herzog’s reaction to the violence in the West Bank village of Kusra, where local and foreign media personnel have reported that masked Israelis are creating anarchy and are attacking innocent Palestinians and setting fire to their property. Political pundits insist that it is more than a criminal issue. It is also a political issue that serves the interests of the far Right, and to some extent the interests of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, even though Netanyahu has more than once castigated those Israelis who are targeting innocent Palestinians.In condemning the Israeli vigilantes, Herzog declared, “The government, security agencies, judicial authorities, and law-enforcement bodies must act now, using every possible means to root out this unacceptable phenomenon and bring the perpetrators to justice.”Several politicians on both sides of the political divide have voiced concerns about the harm that the anarchists are doing to Israel’s image. This is one of the reasons that Herzog has chosen to make diplomacy one of his priorities.His gift for diplomacy may be hereditary. His father was a diplomat before he was a politician and a president, and his grandfather used diplomacy in his efforts to rescue child survivors of the Holocaust and bring them to Israel.Given Herzog’s own diplomatic successes, some people might want to see him as a future ambassador or foreign minister. But Herzog has other plans. He wants to be a teacher and join with those who are shaping Israel’s next generation.Follow us on Google