Tensions between President Isaac Herzog and Democrats chair Yair Golan escalated sharply after Golan publicly urged Herzog not to serve as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “guardian” by approving a pardon without any acknowledgment of wrongdoing. In response, Herzog scrapped a planned meeting with the MK, signaling clear displeasure with the tone and substance of Golan’s remarks.
The confrontation began when Golan released a pointed statement challenging Herzog directly. “Are you loyal to the state and the law, or are you Netanyahu’s guardian?” he declared, framing the decision as a test of presidential integrity. Golan intensified the criticism by invoking Herzog’s lineage, insisting, “I know that your father, President Chaim Herzog, would have kicked Netanyahu out the door, without hesitation and without blinking.”
Channel 12 reported that Herzog refused to meet under what the President’s Office viewed as a wave of “violent and insulting discourse,” canceling the scheduled sit-down as a form of protest. Despite the fallout, Golan appears unfazed. In a conversation with the network, he offered no retraction, noted that the appointment has not been rescheduled, and conveyed no expectation that it will be soon.
“I respect the president, but given the worrying signs on the pardon issue… one must have a clear and staunch position,” he insisted, making it clear that he believes Herzog must safeguard the country’s legal framework. “We expect the president to defend the state of Israel’s laws, its institutions, its representatives and the judicial branch.”
Golan argued that this moment demands blunt honesty about Israel’s direction. “It’s come time to tell ourselves and everyone, Israel is at a fateful hour. We must fight for the future of Israel as a democratic and free country.” He concluded by emphasizing the urgency behind his appeal: “My sole intention to the president was to say this is an emergency and we all have the duty — the first citizen and every other citizen — to fight for Israel’s future.”
{Matzav.com}
Golan said “We must fight for the future of Israel as a democratic and free country.” This requires integrity of the people operating in the govenment. Many people and experts agree that this long drawnout trial is an abuse of democracy by political and jealous enemies of the PM. The president must be free to make his decision without insult and violence threatening him. The tone of Golan and others in the opposition betrays their position as one of hatred and fear that this ridiculous trial to topple the PM is finally being recognized for what it is – an attempt to topple an elected PM where the opposition failed in the election process.
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False accusations against Netanyahu by the Democrat Deep State in Israel, just like the Deep State in the US against Trump.