耶路撒冷，11月2日——在这个政治已演变成赤手空拳格斗的国家里，以色列温和的总统以撒克·赫尔佐格，如今被委以劝说各党派领袖放下拳头、组建政府的重任，他是一个温和时代的遗物。
JERUSALEM, Nov 2 - In a country where politics has become a bare-knuckled brawl, Isaac Herzog, the mild-mannered president now tasked with persuading Israel's party leaders to lower their fists and form a government, is a throwback to a gentler era.
虽然没有人会称他天真——他既担任过反对总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡的反对派领袖，也担任过内塔尼亚胡领导下的联合内阁成员——但赫尔佐格温和的说话方式似乎与时代格格不入。
Though no one would call him naive — he has served both as leader of the opposition against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and as a member of a unity cabinet under him — Herzog's soft-spoken manner can appear out of step with the times.
他所出身的中左翼传统，曾在以色列主导数代，如今几乎已从政坛消失。取而代之的是从名义上的中间派到极右翼的大多是鹰派政党的激增，这些政党由以色列本雅明·内塔尼亚胡为典范的、以大胆花招和尖刻抨击著称的魅力人物领导。
The centre-left tradition from which he hails, which dominated Israel for generations, has all but vanished from the scene. In its place is a proliferation of mostly hawkish parties from the nominal centre to the far right, led by charismatic personalities known for bold stunts and caustic put-downs, in the model of Netanyahu himself.
在10月27日的选举中，内塔尼亚胡失去了执政多数，但表现优于预期，并阻止了对手找到推翻他的明确途径。66岁的赫尔佐格呼吁对话。他尚未表示是否会先给总理或对手加迪·艾森科特组阁的机会。
After an October 27 election in which Netanyahu lost his governing majority but outperformed expectations and denied his opponents a clear path to unseat him, Herzog, 66, has called for dialogue. He has yet to say whether he will give the prime minister or rival Gadi Eisenkot the first chance to form a cabinet.
“我希望代表们能带着开放的头脑和开放的心胸前来，倾听并提出想法，找到创造性的解决方案，以避免再次举行选举，”他在周日表示。
"I hope the representatives will come with an open mind and an open heart, to hear and to sound ideas and find creative solutions that would prevent another election," he said on Sunday.
担心以色列正处于“瓦解的危险之中”三位曾与路透社交谈的前顾问表示，他们预计赫尔佐格将推动组建尽可能广泛的政府，以在为时过晚之前拯救国家脱离政治动荡。
CONCERNED ISRAEL IS IN 'DANGER OF UNRAVELLING' Three former advisors who spoke to Reuters said they expect Herzog to push for the broadest government possible, to rescue the country from its political turmoil before it is too late.
“赫尔佐格总统深感担忧，国家正在脱轨，并面临着从内部瓦解的真正危险，”他的前顾问埃伦·利维说。
"President Herzog is deeply concerned the country is falling off the rails and in genuine danger of unravelling from within," said his former advisor Eylon Levy.
赫尔佐格未立即回应本文的置评请求。政治专家表示，劝说死对头组建政府的任务最终可能仍将是不可能的。
Herzog did not immediately respond to a request for comment for this story. Political experts say the task of coaxing bitter rivals to form a government may yet prove impossible.
“这种责任在于当选政党及其领导人，我不确定任何一方都有这种意愿，”特拉维夫大学政治学家亚埃尔·肖默尔说。
"That responsibility rests with the elected parties and their leaders, and I am not sure either side has that will," said Tel Aviv University political scientist Yael Shomer.
以色列民主研究所政治学家吉迪翁·拉哈特表示，赫尔佐格可能会在两条轨道上推进：将组阁授权交给两位主要候选人之一，同时在幕后推动内塔尼亚胡和艾森科特所属政党搁置分歧，组建团结政府。
Gideon Rahat, a political scientist at the Israel Democracy Institute, said Herzog may work on two tracks: handing the mandate to one of the two leading candidates, while pushing behind the scenes for the parties of Netanyahu and Eisenkot to bury their differences and form a unity government.
“怀着开放的心态和胸怀前来” 赫尔佐格是以色列1948年建国后首位出生于以色列境内的总统。
"COME WITH AN OPEN MIND AND AN OPEN HEART" Herzog is the first president to have been born inside Israel after its founding in 1948.
作为显赫政治世家的后裔——其已故父亲哈伊姆·赫尔佐格也曾担任总统长达十年——他有一个充满童趣的童年昵称“布吉”，据称是其母亲用带有法语腔调的文字游戏，依希伯来语“玩偶”一词而起的。
The scion of a storied political family — his late father, Chaim Herzog, also served as president for a decade — he is known by a playful childhood nickname, Buji, said to have been given to him by his mother as French-inflected wordplay on the Hebrew word for doll.
赫尔佐格曾任以色列军队情报军官，职业是律师，2003年首次当选议会议员，历任多个政府要职，2013年成为工党领袖。作为反对党领袖，他在2015年大选中惨败于内塔尼亚胡。
An intelligence officer in Israel's military and a lawyer by profession, Herzog was first elected to parliament in 2003 and held several government briefs before becoming leader of the Labour Party in 2013. As opposition leader, he was soundly defeated by Netanyahu in a 2015 election.
2021年，他在议会选举中当选总统，几天前，一个成分复杂的联盟终于成功让内塔尼亚胡下台，结束了其长达12年的执政，此前曾经历一系列无果的选举。
He was elevated to the presidency by the Knesset in 2021, days before a motley coalition finally managed to unseat Netanyahu for the first time in 12 years, after a succession of inconclusive elections.
但仅18个月后，他不得不主持内塔尼亚胡回归掌权，并组建了一个首次纳入极右翼的政府。
But just 18 months later, he was obliged to preside over Netanyahu's return at the helm of a government that included the ultra-right for the first time.
不久后，内塔尼亚胡发起削弱以色列最高法院权力的举措，引发大规模抗议。赫尔佐格介入，主持内塔尼亚胡与反对派的妥协谈判。几个月后，哈马斯发动“10月7日”袭击以色列，致使中东陷入动荡，以色列在加沙、黎巴嫩和伊朗开战。
Soon, Netanyahu launched a bid to curb the powers of Israel's Supreme Court, which sparked mass protests. Herzog stepped in to host compromise talks between Netanyahu and the opposition. A few months later, Hamas launched its October 7 attack on Israel, plunging the Middle East into turmoil as Israel went to war in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran.
过去一年里，赫尔佐格面临美国总统唐纳德·特朗普的公开施压，要求他赦免内塔尼亚胡长期面临的腐败指控。
Over the past year, Herzog has faced public pressure from US President Donald Trump to pardon Netanyahu from longstanding corruption charges.
赫尔佐格迄今予以抵制，但一些政治专家认为，他仍可能通过提供某种形式的解决方案来化解针对内塔尼亚胡的刑事案件，从而在组建团结政府的交易中发挥作用。
Herzog has so far resisted, but some political experts believe he could yet have a role to play by offering some form of resolution to the criminal case against Netanyahu as part of a deal to form a unity government.
“我怀疑会有一项交易摆上桌面。会是什么样的交易，以及任何一方是否会接受——那是另一回事了，”肖默尔说。
"I suspect a deal will be on the table. What type of a deal and will it be accepted by either side — that is a different story," said Shomer.