During his lengthy inauguration speech as head of state on July 7, 2021, Isaac Herzog, freshly elected by the Knesset for a seven-year term, quoted Lebanese poet Gibran Khalil Gibran: "The reality of the other person is not in what he reveals to you, but in what he cannot reveal to you. Therefore, if you would understand him, listen not to what he says, but rather to what he does not say." Five years later, all of Israel is wondering what Herzog is secretly thinking, what he will do behind the scenes, and what he will say publicly as head of state to help the country escape the political deadlock it has been mired in since the election on Tuesday, October 27.

A politician from the left, Herzog typically fills a ceremonial role. His weeks are marked by receiving ambassadors, traveling abroad and giving speeches that the media rarely cover. However, the law grants him a leading role, with genuine freedom of action, when it comes to proposing the name of a prime minister tasked with forming a government after parliamentary elections.

From the official announcement of the results, he has seven days to gather the views of all the party leaders in the Knesset before making his decision. "In cases in which the election results are conclusive, the president enjoys limited discretion. In contrast, when the results are inconclusive, or when there are normative problems related to a candidate, the president’s discretion may be broader," political scientists Dana Blander and Ofer Kenig wrote in the reference book on the presidency published by the Israel Democracy Institute (The Presidency in Israel, 2024).