After Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party failed to cobble up numbers to form a viable coalition government, Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin on Wednesday has asked the head of opposition Yair Lapid to form the government that might end Israel’s political gridlock.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who got the first crack at forming Israel’s government, had a window of 28 days to secure a coalition government after Isreal’s March 23 verdict delivered a deeply fractured electorate. Israel’s longest-serving prime minister tried to woo his rivals in the opposition camp for 4 weeks but was unsuccessful in building an alliance.
“Netanyahu had informed (the presidency) that he was unable to form a government and so returned the mandate to the president," President Reuven Rivlin's office said in a statement.
The President, in a televised address, announced that he has chosen Yair Lapid to try to form a new government. Now Lapid has 28 days to try to form a government.
Who is Yair lapid?
Yair Lapid is the leader of Israel's centrist opposition Yesh Atid (There is a Future). His party came in second behind Netanyahu’s Likud Party in the election held in March. He entered politics in 2012, on the heels of grass-roots social protests that demanded more government focus on issues of justice, income inequality and support for the middle class.
Lapid’s party was a political novice when it was launched in 2012 but became the second-largest party in Knesset when it won 19 seats in the 2013 general election. Since then Yesh Atid has become a credible force against Likud Party.
His party won 17 seats in the latest elections and has become the force to reckon with in Israel. As the head of Yesh Atid, Lapid became the leader of the opposition in the Knesset.
In 2019, the Yesh Atid joined the centrist Blue and White coalition under the leadership of Benny Gantz, a former military chief. Blue and White took on Netanyahu's right-wing Likud in three elections in less than a year. However, when Benny Gantz decided to join a Netanyahu-led coalition in 2020, Lapid decided to discard Benny’s party. He accused Gantz of breaching a fundamental promise Blue and White had made to its supporters that it would fight to defeat Netanyahu.
During his campaign in the March election, he was considered to be the most liberal of the rivals who lined up to challenge Netanyahu and called for liberal democracy. He campaigned almost exclusively on the need to depose Netanyahu and accused Netanyahu of divisive tactics.
Prior to his entry into politics, he had a highly successful career as a journalist and popular television host. He was a newspaper columnist before becoming a presenter on Channel 2 TV, a role that brought him stardom. He has also written a dozen books, most of which featured on bestseller lists, including his most prominent book, “Memories After My Death”, about his father.
Yair Lapid is also an amateur boxer and martial artist. He is also known for his good looks and once was on lists of Israel's most desirable men. He was named one of the world’s 100 most influential people by TIME magazine in 2013. He is also one of the few leading politicians willing to express support for a Palestinian state.