Isaac Herzog Tapped as Next Jewish Agency Chief, Rejecting Netanyahu’s Choice

Image by getty images
Opposition leader Isaac Herzog is slated to replace Natan Sharansky as the head of the Jewish Agency, after a search committee decided to back his candidacy and reject Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s candidate.
This is the first time in 23 years that the prime minister’s choice for the position was rejected. Sources said Netanyahu has decided not to contest the nomination, and would instead nominate a candidate from his Likud party for the post of Jewish National Fund chairman.
The Jewish Agency’s Board of Governors is convening in Jerusalem on Sunday and is expected to give the nomination its final approval, in which case Herzog would start his four-year term on August 1, 2018.
“In light of an appeal by Jewish leaders in the Diaspora, I agreed to take on the role of chairman of the Jewish Agency,” Herzog tweeted after the nomination was declared. “These are days of significant challenges concerning the relations between the Jewish people and the State of Israel.”
Netanyahu called the search committee on Thursday and was informed that Herzog was its choice for the top job. Netanyahu then asked if the panel had met with Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz, and when he was told that there had been no such meeting, Netanyahu stressed that Steinitz was his candidate and asked that they meet. After the panel met with the energy minister, it informed Netanyahu that the members were still backing Herzog.
Herzog, who headed the Labor Party prior to being ousted last summer by Avi Gabbay and also held various ministerial posts in past governments, was one of five candidates for Jewish Agency chairmant. Because Gabbay is not a Knesset member, Herzog remained leader of the opposition in the Knesset following his ouster as Labor Party leader.
Alyssa Fisher is a news writer at the Forward. Email her at [email protected], or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
2X match on all Passover gifts!
Most Popular
- 1
Film & TV What Gal Gadot has said about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
- 2
News A Jewish Republican and Muslim Democrat are suddenly in a tight race for a special seat in Congress
- 3
Culture How two Jewish names — Kohen and Mira — are dividing red and blue states
- 4
Opinion Is this new documentary giving voice to American Jewish anguish — or simply stoking fear?
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward Trump’s plan to enlist Elon Musk began at Lubavitcher Rebbe’s grave
-
Film & TV In this Jewish family, everybody needs therapy — especially the therapists themselves
-
Fast Forward Katrina Armstrong steps down as Columbia president after White House pressure over antisemitism
-
Yiddish אַ בליק צוריק אויף די פֿאָרווערטס־רעקלאַמעס פֿאַר פּסח A look back at the Forward ads for Passover products
קאָקאַ־קאָלאַ“, „מאַקסוועל האַוז“ און אַנדערע גרויסע פֿירמעס האָבן דעמאָלט רעקלאַמירט אינעם פֿאָרווערטס
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.