Herzog issues rare warning to the political system: "Elections are not a civil war" | Listen

President Isaac Herzog issued a rare warning to the political system, cautioning against dangerous extremism of positions during the election campaign. Herzog called for maintaining red lines, attacked leaders and the media for using platforms to incite extremism, and revealed that he offered mediation in the Netanyahu trial, but the Prime Minister did not respond positively or negatively.

President Isaac Herzog issued a rare warning to the political system, cautioning against dangerous extremism of positions during the election campaign. In an interview with 103fm, Herzog called for maintaining red lines and attacked leaders and the media for using platforms to incite extremism, saying: "In elections, leaders, parties and politicians extremely radicalize their positions - this is dangerous. They use a platform called media that benefits from it because it sells." Herzog revealed that he offered mediation in the Netanyahu trial, but the Prime Minister did not respond positively or negatively. He added that the Prime Minister "did not respond at all. That is, he did not answer yes, nor no. I leave the door open for the possibility that the parties will eventually come to me for dialogue, for the possibility of mediation in this case." Herzog also addressed the security implications of the political crisis, saying he knows of operations and actions that were postponed or canceled due to this consideration, and of cabinet decisions analyzed in depth with significant backing from the Attorney General on military operations. He concluded with a call for soul-searching ahead of Yom Kippur.