Yair Lapid

Yair Lapid (born November 5, 1963, Tel Aviv, Israel) is an Israeli journalist, television personality, and politician who served briefly as prime minister (July–December 2022). He also served as minister of finance (2013–14) and minister of foreign affairs (2021–22).

Lapid was raised in Tel Aviv. His mother, Shulamit Lapid, was a writer, and his father, Yosef (Tommy) Lapid, was a journalist and commentator known for his outspoken support of secularism and his criticism of Israel’s ultra-Orthodox political parties; Yosef later entered politics as the head of the centrist party Shinui (“Change”) and served as minister of justice and deputy prime minister (2003–04).

Media career

Yair Lapid first worked as a reporter while serving in the military, writing articles for a magazine published by the Israel Defense Forces. In 1991 he began to write a column for Maariv, the daily newspaper where his father was a columnist and editor. After several years at Maariv, Lapid’s column moved to the higher-circulation Yedioth Ahronoth. During this period Lapid also tried songwriting, screenwriting, and acting, with some success, and dabbled in amateur boxing. In 1994 Lapid began his television career as the anchor of an evening news program. Over the years that followed, he hosted a series of talk shows. He also wrote several novels (mostly thrillers) and the script for a television drama series. In 2008 he became the anchor of Ulpan Shishi (“Friday Studio”), a highly rated newsmagazine.

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Political career

In January 2012 Lapid left broadcasting to enter politics, forming his own centrist party, Yesh Atid (“There Is a Future”). The party platform focused on the economic concerns of the Israeli middle class, which had emerged as a major political force during a wave of socioeconomic protests in the summer of 2011. While campaigning during the run-up for the January 2013 general elections, Lapid vowed to reduce housing costs, reform the education system, and institute policies that would help small businesses. He also called for the gradual phasing out of rules that exempted Israel’s ultra-Orthodox community from military service, and he proposed new measures to limit what he characterized as the disproportionate influence of minority parties (such as the ultra-Orthodox and West Bank settler parties) in Israeli politics. However, his campaign rhetoric remained inclusive, and he eschewed the blunt criticism of ultra-Orthodox parties that had been his father’s political signature. Unique among the major political parties in the country, Yesh Atid remained vague on issues relating to national security and negotiations with the Palestinians, although it was generally understood that Lapid favoured a return to negotiations.

Yesh Atid outperformed expectations in elections in 2013, winning 19 seats in the Knesset—the second largest number of seats, after those won by the Likud–Yisrael Beiteinu alliance. After weeks of negotiations, Yesh Atid joined the governing coalition led by Likud’s Benjamin Netanyahu, and Lapid took the portfolio of finance. Citing friction within the governing coalition, Prime Minister Netanyahu dismissed Lapid as finance minister in December 2014.

Early elections were held in 2015. Yesh Atid lost seven seats and became the fourth largest party in the Knesset. Lapid responded to the results positively, however, saying that the party’s performance in the elections indicated that “Yesh Atid is here to stay.” Throughout the next several years, he remained a key figure in the opposition. He stirred controversy in 2018 when Israeli police recommended that Netanyahu be indicted on corruption charges and it was revealed that Lapid was a key witness in one of the cases.

As the April 2019 elections approached, Lapid and his Yesh Atid party were once again poised for a solid performance but were still too weak to challenge Netanyahu. Meanwhile, Benny Gantz, a political newcomer but a well-known general of the Israel Defense Forces, emerged as Netanyahu’s most viable challenger. Yesh Atid joined a last-minute electoral alliance with Gantz’s Israel Resilience Party to form Blue and White, a list that included a powerhouse of well-known figures from Israel’s defense establishment. According to the alliance agreement, the post of prime minister would rotate between Gantz and Lapid. While Blue and White tied Netanyahu’s Likud with 35 seats, no coalition could be formed. A new set of elections was held in September, and again no coalition could be formed, which sent Israel to a third set of elections, held in March 2020. Those elections likewise presented no clear winner, but the outbreak of COVID-19 caused Gantz to accede to an emergency unity government under Netanyahu’s leadership. Nearly half of Blue and White, including Lapid, split with Gantz and entered the opposition under the name Yesh Atid-Telem.

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The Bennett-Lapid government

The split with Gantz ultimately provided Lapid the opportunity to form a coalition. Yesh Atid ran separately from Blue and White in the elections of March 2021 and outperformed Gantz’s party by far. Despite coming in a distant second to Likud, Lapid was able to form a broad coalition that was united by the aim of replacing Netanyahu. The coalition agreement allowed Naftali Bennett to serve as prime minister for the first half of the term but allowed Lapid to take over the position if the coalition were to collapse prematurely. In June 2022, defections and mounting opposition to the coalition led Bennett and Lapid to call early elections, and Lapid took the reins as prime minister in the interim.

Although functioning in a caretaker capacity, Lapid wasted no time putting his leadership style on display. Just days into his premiership, he launched a monthlong incursion into the Gaza Strip that targeted militants of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. His address to the UN General Assembly in September took a hard stance on Iran’s nuclear program, called for a two-state solution with the Palestinians, and hailed Palestinian citizens of Israel as integral members of Israeli society. Weeks before the November elections, a tentative deal was announced that would allow Lebanon to extract natural gas from a disputed area. Lapid argued that the deal would enhance Israeli security and reduce Lebanon’s reliance on Iranian aid, but opponents accused Lapid of ceding maritime territory.

In November, his eventful few months as prime minister were met with a significant increase to his party’s seats. The electorate nonetheless favoured Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc, which won a majority of seats for the first time since 2015.