I am ready to be Israel’s next prime minister, declares Isaac Herzog

‘Isaac Herzog, Israel’s opposition leader, vowed on Tuesday to “reignite” peace talks with the Palestinians and recapture the spirit of Zionism from Right-wingers as he confidently declared he would be the country’s next prime minister.

Appearing before the foreign media three weeks before a general election that is poised on a knife-edge, Mr Herzog – who leads Israel’s Labour party – said the defeat of Benjamin Netanyahu, the present incumbent, was all but inevitable.

“I am trying to educate the Israeli public and body politic that Netanyahu is beaten,” Mr Herzog, 54, son of a former Israeli president and grandson of a one-time chief rabbi of Ireland, told a news conference in fluent but Israeli-accented English that contrasted with Mr Netanyahu’s American diction.’

Read more: I am ready to be Israel's next prime minister, declares Isaac Herzog