A questionable political star

Israel is a very small but very successful country. Its economy is one of the most advanced in the world and a political climate that makes it very dynamic. There is a connection between the two: If there is no leadership that combines a free market, a constant connection with the whole world, experience, education and wisdom, this success could be destroyed.

The political world on the globe is changing. In Holland, the Labor Party was almost completely wiped out on the left. In Spain and Italy, anti-establishment forces are rising. In the United States, a president was elected who broke political convention, and only recently in France the candidate Emmanuel Macron won the first round of elections, beating the traditional left and right candidates. There is no doubt that we are in the midst of a new political era.

Israel seems to be no different in circumstances but slightly ahead of the others. In the general elections held in 2013, an entirely new party won 19 of the 120 seats in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament. This party became the spring of balance in the establishment of the coalition, while promising "new politics": a series of unrealistic promises that have caused many to pin their hopes onto it.

As time passes, many of us realize that he uses pompous words but says nothing.

The person who founded the party and is its leader to this day is Yair Lapid. A journalist and a television broadcaster, the son of a politician, he writes with great grace and a "slippery" tongue. As time passes, many of us realize that he uses pompous words but says nothing.

Many of the left-wing media in Israel nurtured Lapid's image as the new force while simply ignoring the shortcomings of his personality and the unrealistic platform that he presented to the voter. For example, he was accepted to a doctorate for a university without a bachelor's degree. He has repeatedly opposed the appointment of associates, but has created a political apparatus that guarantees the same thing he opposes.

Thus, when he was carried by populist waves of hatred for the ultra-Orthodox communities in Israel, and given the weakening of the failed Labor Party, he received quite a few of his votes and became finance minister.

Lapid created a phenomenon that I call a "political fiction". In other words, the ability to say a thing and its opposite in a consistent manner without leaving a significant imprint. For example, before being appointed Minister of Finance, he declared: "A finance minister must be an economist." After his appointment, he declared scandalously: "The finance minister is not a person who must be an economist." 

Moreover, some of his representatives during the elections promised things they knew they could not sustain. But thanks to the Internet, it is possible to stand up to all of his contradictory statements and failures.

Lapid created a phenomenon that I call a "political fiction". In other words, the ability to say a thing and its opposite in a consistent manner without leaving a significant imprint.

It should be emphasized that in Israel there is a severe problem of cost of living and housing costs. This is due to excessive bureaucracy, court intervention in government policy and a very strong union power that has penetrated anti-socialist parties and prevented the opening of the market to competition and reforms that could fundamentally change the situation. Every success of the Netanyahu government, and there are quite a few, comes after a terrible struggle. Still, there's plenty more to do.

Thus, for 20 months Lapid served as finance minister in Netanyahu's previous Cabinet. Almost everything he had promised has failed to come to fruition and his term was sealed as a total failure. After he was fired, he proudly promised the Israeli public: "Netanyahu will not be prime minister." The Israeli media portrays the feeling that this is the emerging reality. However, quite a few in the Israeli public who are disgusted by the same media again chose Netanyahu and caused Lapid to lose the election, losing eight seats.

Then, after his defeat, he underwent a revelation: He understood that the Israeli public was leaning to the right and that his political preferences to the left were harmful to him. Moreover, he understood that he would come to the premiership if he adopted Likud policies and stole votes from them. Lapid made a U-turn and began making right-wing statements. He claimed that the ultra-Orthodox parties that he had detested in the past have become legitimate and he has shown a rapprochement with religion. Left-wing organizations that in the past were legitimate were de-legitimized.

If I were to sum it up in a trial, it would not be absurd that in the framework of his weak politics, Lapid changes his mind. He pulls once to the right and once to the left and basically says nothing and gives nothing. Given the dysfunction of the Israeli Labor Party and Lapid’s right-wing statements, he draws votes from both sides.

However, Israel has a leader with a vision - Netanyahu. Every international study shows that Israel has never been better in almost every field. Some of the surveys show that Lapid leads in the polls ahead of the next elections, but those are the same pollsters who predicted Labor victory in the elections.

As in the case of the British Brexit: Israelis voted Netanyahu, and the biased were very disappointed.

Lapid's supporters want to compare him to Macron, but this comparison is baseless: France is a sclerotic state under a socialist leadership that will soon be replaced, while Israel is a successful country with challenges where reality is completely different from the image the media is trying to market to the public. 

It is clear that you will see Lapid in retrospect as a failure and as a very questionable politician.