Israel’s president holds crucial cards in breaking post-election deadlock

• Isaac Herzog must choose who gets the first chance to form a government after Israel’s election deadlock. He is expected to seek a broad coalition and avoid another vote.
• Netanyahu’s Likud won 27 seats, but his bloc has only 53. Eisenkot’s bloc has 48, and Arab party support could decide the first mandate.
• Herzog may use a possible pardon for Netanyahu as leverage, but this is controversial. He also faces doubts after the failed judicial overhaul talks and other divisive decisions.

JERUSALEM – For five years, Isaac Herzog has tried to avoid controversy and heal rifts in his largely ceremonial role as the president of Israel.

Now, following last week’s inconclusive election, he must make a decision that is likely to roil one half or the other of a fractured country.