From Netanyahu’s perspective, the most important news this week wasn’t the opposition’s unification, but Israel’s president’s announcement—via The New York Times—regarding the postponement of a pardon.
There was a slight misunderstanding. In English, the Hebrew word “lidchot” can mean both postpone and reject. President Herzog, not a man to rush into decisive rulings, meant the former.
The significant window for Herzog to make a decision will open after the elections, aiming for a comprehensive deal. A former justice minister once said it’s very hard to appoint one judge to the Supreme Court, but four is easier. Paradoxically, the more that is on the table, the easier it is to satisfy the parties. Herzog is operating similarly. He assumes reaching a compromise on the trial between the attorney general (the de facto head of the opposition) and Netanyahu will be nearly impossible. But if forming a government and a legal compromise are tossed into the same pot, a viable solution might just emerge.
The risks of waiting are great for all sides. First and foremost, for the president. While Trump hasn’t insulted him for about two weeks (he’s been a bit busy), it’s unclear if he’ll continue to settle for mere text messages. And for Netanyahu, a decision now would certainly have been preferable. In a few months, he could be stripped of all the assets that separate him from an ordinary defendant. After all, his pardon request relies on his need to concentrate on fateful security and diplomatic matters as prime minister. What happens if he becomes the leader of the opposition?
Some are trying to convince Herzog to take his time regardless. If Netanyahu is elected, it will be easier for him to receive a pardon. If he isn’t, he will leave politics. Perhaps, but that’s exactly what everyone thought in 2021 when he lost to Bennett. Yet here we are, and the end of the trial is still not in sight.
Most importantly, according to most polls, the president is about to face another crash test. If no candidate receives 61 substantial mandates (a mandate from a faction like the anti-Zionist Arab party Hadash-Ta’al that won’t join a coalition doesn’t count), he will have to make a decisive ruling under suboptimal conditions—just like with the pardon. Facing this impending chaos, one has to wonder: does Herzog ever catch himself thinking it wouldn’t have been so bad if Miriam Peretz had beaten him for the presidency?
