Israeli outgoing president to leave office
Israeli President Reuven Rivlin’s seven-year term will come to an end today as Isaac Herzog is set to replace him.
Last month, independent politician Isaac Herzog won 87 electoral votes from the Knesset in the 2021 presidential election, defeating his opponent, Miriam Peretz, to become the eleventh president of Israel—a ceremonial post with very limited power. A coalition government of seven parties will constitute Israel’s new cabinet.
Expect the new coalition government to replicate similar foreign policy objectives of the previous Netanyahu administration especially with regards to the proxy conflict against Iran, as Tel Aviv is worried about the possible renegotiation of the Iranian nuclear deal. Tel Aviv will seek to build further ties with the signatories of the Abraham Accords to corner Iran’s interests in the region.
In this context, a possible free trade agreement between Tel Aviv and Abu Dhabi is likely to be signed in the short- to medium-term, while the two states will also expand military cooperation. Although several Gulf nations such as Kuwait and Saudi Arabia are reluctant to normalize relations with Israel, Tel Aviv will move parallel with the Gulf Council Cooperation (GCC) with regards to measures against Iranian supported proxies.
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