Jewish Agency Chairman Isaac Herzog celebrates his 59th birthday
Herzog served in many positions in goverment before arriving at his current position at the Jewish Agency
By GREER FAY CASHMANJewish Agency chairman Isaac Herzog speaks at the GC4I conference in Jerusalem, June 19(photo credit: MIRI SHIMONOVICH/GPO)Jewish Agency Chairman and former Labor Party leader and former leader of the Opposition in the Knesset Isaac Herzog on September 22nd celebrated his 59th birthday.They boyish Herzog with his natural Hail fellow well met attitude is popularly known as Bougie, just as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is known as Bibi – albeit not for the same reasons.In Herzog's case, it was because he was born with a cute rosebud mouth, which appealed so much to his French speaking mother Aura who grew up in Egypt, that she called him Bougie.Mouth in French is bouche, and Aura Herzog simply used the diminutive version of the word.Anyone in public life carries a heavy weight of responsibility on their shoulders, but Herzog more so, because he comes from a long line of famous achievers on all sides of his family.His mother was the long-time head of the "Council for a Beautiful Israel".One of his aunts was the head of the Israel Cancer Association, and she also happened to be married to Abba Eban who was inter alia Israel ambassador to the the US, and the UN and later Foreign Minister.Herzog's father, a noted lawyer, was the head of military intelligence, Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, a member of Knesset and Israel's sixth president. His paternal grandfather for whom he is named, was the first Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of the State of Israel and his grandmother was the founder of World Emunah. On his mother's side, his great grandparents and his grandparents were among the founder of Motza and Neveh Zedek. His family tree on all sides is literally dripping with famous people – so although he is very proud on the one hand to have a rich DNA, on the other this places a far greater burden on him than most public figures have to endure.Before entering politics Herzog graduated in law from Tel Aviv University and worked in the law firm Herzog Fox & Neeman established by his father, the late Michael Fox and the late Yaakov Neeman.Herzog's entry into the political arena was as cabinet secretary to Ehud Barak when the latter was prime minister. Herzog later won a seat in the Knesset and also served in several ministerial position, one of which prepared him for his current role when he served as Minister for Diaspora Affairs and the Fight Against Antisemitism.As Jewish Agency chairman, much of what he does, is similar to what he did in that particular ministerial position.
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