South Asia Center Nonresident Senior Fellow Barbara Slavin writes for Al-Monitor on the new round of peace talks proposed by Israeli Labor Party Leader Isaac Herzog:
Israeli Labor Party leader Isaac Herzog criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for emerging from a 50-day war in Gaza with “no real strategy” and said Israel should take advantage of an emerging moderate Arab coalition to try again to reach a peace agreement with the Palestinians.
Herzog, who is known in Israel by his nickname “Buji,” made the comments on Sept. 9 at the Brookings Institution in his first major speech in the United States since his election as head of the Labor Party a year ago.
During the conflict in Gaza, Herzog — a political princeling and son of former Israeli President Chaim Herzog — took pains to support Israeli government policy against Hamas. But his speech in Washington signaled that the gloves have come off and that Herzog is making a bid to lead a new centrist coalition in Israeli politics.