Joel Herzog

Background

Joel Herzog was born in 1948 in Israel. He was a son of Chaim Herzog, and his brother Isaac Herzog later became the eleventh president of Israel.

Chaim Herzog was one of the three founders of the law firm Herzog, Fox & Neeman in 1972. He later served as Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, as a member of the Knesset, and as the country's sixth president.

Joel Herzog's birth took place in the year the State of Israel was proclaimed, in May 1948. The new state's legal and governmental institutions developed over the following decades.

Education

Herzog studied law at Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan, Israel, earning a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1975. Bar-Ilan, founded in 1955, is today one of Israel's leading research universities, with eight faculties including Law.

The Faculty of Law was founded in 1969 and has placed research and teaching excellence at the center of its work. The faculty today operates clinics in civil legal aid, public advocacy, women's rights, mediation, and assistance for the elderly and for Holocaust survivors.

Career

Herzog's military service came before his legal training. He served four years in the Israel Defense Forces, holding the rank of captain and serving as a base commander, and completed his service in 1971. The IDF was formed in 1948 as the armed force of the newly independent state and became the country's principal military institution.

Shortly afterward he began studying law at Bar-Ilan University, graduating in 1975, and was admitted to the bar in Israel in the same year. He later worked as a partner of Herzog, Fox & Neeman, a firm founded in 1972 as a boutique practice serving international clients doing business in Israel. Over the following decades it grew into one of Israel's largest law firms, with more than 500 lawyers, including over 200 partners.

In later years he served as Managing Director of Noga Group, a firm with interests in trading and real estate across France, Switzerland, and Africa. He also took part in the planning and construction of a 748-unit housing project in Kiryat Gat, a city in southern Israel.

Achievements

• He was involved in the concept creation, construction, and commissioning of 748 housing units in Kiryat Gat, Israel.

Membership

The International Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists is a bar association that works to advance human rights and international cooperation based on the rule of law, with particular attention to issues on the Jewish people's agenda. The Swiss Federation of Israelite Communities serves as the umbrella body for Jewish communities in Switzerland.

Herzog's Swiss activities include roles in several organizations. Yad Vashem Switzerland supports Yad Vashem, Israel's national Holocaust memorial institution. The Association Switzerland–Israel, Geneva Section, promotes ties between Switzerland and Israel, and the Committee for the Organization of Yom Hashoah organizes observances of Israel's Holocaust Remembrance Day. The Religious and Cultural Center of Hekal Haness is a religious and cultural institution.

• International Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists

• Swiss Federation of Israelite Communities , Switzerland

• Board member

  Global Israeli Leadership

• Board member

  The Religious and Cultural Center of Hekal Haness

• President

  Yad Vashem Switzerland , Switzerland

• President

  Association Switzerland–Israel (Geneva Section) , Switzerland

• President

  Committee for the Organization of Yom Hashoah

Interests

• Herzog's documented personal interests include reading, swimming, and walks with his children and grandchildren.

Connections

Herzog is married to Marguerite Herzog-Gagon, and the couple lives in Geneva, Switzerland. He has a family with four children and grandchildren.

His father was Chaim Herzog, who co-founded Herzog, Fox & Neeman and later served as Israel's president. His brother Isaac Herzog, a lawyer, later became Israel's eleventh president.

Father:

Chaim Herzog

Co-founder of Herzog, Fox & Neeman, Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, member of the Knesset, and sixth president of Israel.

Brother:

Isaac Herzog

Lawyer who was a partner at Herzog, Fox & Neeman and later became the eleventh president of Israel.

Wife:

Marguerite Herzog-Gagon

References

• Discipline, Discretion, Diplomacy: Joel Herzog A World Jewish Congress podcast episode covering his business activities, leadership roles in Jewish and Israel-related organizations, legal education, and family background.
• Joel Herzog - Zera Israel An advisory board profile describing his construction project, military service, legal education, memberships, and family life.