Although he did not win a seat in the 1999 elections, Herzog served as the Government Secretary in Ehud Barak's cabinet until 2001 when Barak was defeated by Ariel Sharon in a special election for Prime Minister. In 1999, he was also investigated in the "Amutot Barak" scandal, but maintained his silence. The Attorney General, therefore, decided to close the case against him due to lack of evidence. From 2000 until 2003, he served as chairman of the Israel Anti-Drug Authority. Herzog won a seat in the 2003 election as a member of the Labor Party, and was appointed Minister of Housing and Building at his request when Labor joined Ariel Sharon's coalition government on 10 January 2005. However, on 23 November 2005, he resigned from his cabinet post along with the rest of the party. , January 2014 Prior to the 2006 elections, Herzog won second place on Labor's list in the party's primaries. He was initially appointed Minister of Tourism in Ehud Olmert's Kadima-led coalition, but was reassigned to the Social Affairs ministry in March 2007 after Yisrael Beiteinu was awarded the Tourism Ministry following their late entry to the governing coalition, and was also appointed Minister of the Diaspora, Society and the Fight Against Antisemitism. He was again second on the party's list for the 2009 elections. Following the election, he was appointed Minister of Welfare & Social Services and Minister of the Diaspora, Society, and the Fight Against Antisemitism. In January 2009 he was appointed by PM Ehud Olmert as the Israel Government Coordinator for the provision of humanitarian aid to the population of Gaza. He later resigned from the cabinet after Ehud Barak left the Labor Party to establish Independence in January 2011. In 2011 Herzog was an unsuccessful candidate for the Labor Party leadership. He finished third in the primaries that year, after Shelly Yachimovich and Amir Peretz.
On 22 November 2013 Herzog was elected leader of the Labor Party, defeating incumbent Shelly Yachimovich by 58.5% to 41.5%. In doing so, he became Leader of the Opposition. Whereas Yachimovich focused first on socioeconomic issues, Herzog prioritizes security and resolution of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Ten days after the election, Herzog met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to pledge his support for the two-state solution. Herzog has reportedly reached out to Shas leader Aryeh Deri to increase cooperation between the two opposition factions. 2015 In June 2014, Herzog criticized PM Benjamin Netanyahu for failing to engage the international community, failing to present a proposal for peace with Palestinians, and failure to work effectively with the President of the United States, Barack Obama. Herzog declared that Netanyahu's "loathing and hostility for Barack Obama" was one of his greatest failures, since it put Israel's security at risk. With the governing coalition dissolving and new elections expected in March 2015, Herzog called on Hatnua and Kadima parties to join his Labor Party in forming a new coalition. In an interview with YNET, he stated, "I am capable of replacing Netanyahu. I will do everything in order to establish a bloc before the elections." Shortly thereafter, Herzog and Tzipi Livni, who was justice minister and is head of a centrist faction, announced they would campaign on a joint slate in the upcoming election in an effort to keep Netanyahu, leader of the Likud Party, from securing a fourth term as prime minister. The joint list was named Zionist Union, winning 24 seats to Likud's 30 in the 2015 election, making it the largest Opposition faction. In July 2017, Herzog was eliminated in the first round of the Labor party primaries. Avi Gabbay went on to win the leadership elections, however Herzog remained official leader of the opposition in the Knesset as Gabay was not an elected MK. However, after being elected chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel, Herzog resigned as Leader of the Opposition and from the Knesset. Tzipi Livni succeeded him as Leader of the Opposition, whilst Robert Tiviaev replaced him in the Knesset.
Chairman of the Jewish Agency
In June 2018 Herzog was unanimously elected chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel. Herzog marked bridging the gap between the Jewish people and the State of Israel as one of his objectives. In an interview on Ynet news, Herzog stated that he views intermarriage between Jews and non-Jews as a plague to which there must be a solution. On October 24, 2018, Herzog led a resolution to reaffirm the Jewish Agency's Board of Governors' commitment to the principles of a democratic Israel as emerging from the Declaration of Independence. Following the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, Herzog expressed his concern from the rising anti-Semitism all over the world. In the International Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony at the European Parliament in Brussels he urged the leaders of European countries to fight anti-Semitism and to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of anti-Semitism. In March 2019 the Jewish Agency became the first public institution in Israel to help employees finance surrogacy services abroad so that they can become parents.
Personal life
Herzog is married to Michal, a lawyer, and has three sons. He resides in his childhood home in the Tzahala neighborhood of Tel Aviv.
