ISRAEL: LA SOCIETE CIVILE AUX AFFAIRES?

In: Politique internationale: pi, Issue 141, p. 1-2

Abstract

To Israelis, Yair Lapid has long been known as his father's son. Tommy Lapid was a famous newspaper and TV journalist, the founder of a now-defunct secular political party, Shinoui (Hebrew for 'Change'), and Minister of Justice under Ariel Sharon. In short, Tommy Lapid was one of the leading lights of his generation. Yair, born in 1963, followed in the footsteps of his remarkable father, who died in 2008, by pursuing a career as a journalist before going into politics and setting up the centrist party Yesh Atid ('There is a future' in Hebrew ) in 2012. Like his father, Yair enjoyed rapid success, his party placing second in the January 2013 general election. He was immediately appointed Finance Minister, a key partner of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the coalition government, and has already made his mark. In this exclusive interview, he describes his personal vision of Israel, and candidly admits to an ambition to lead the government within a few years. Adapted from the source document.