Blazing his way through
Is the gov’t implementing Lapid’s agenda?
Tuesday will mark the anniversary of the swearing-in of the government that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu did not want. Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid and Bayit Yehudi head Naftali Bennett forced Netanyahu to form a coalition without haredim, and then-Labor chairwoman Shelly Yacimovich insisted on keeping her party in the opposition. A year later, Netanyahu sits in the middle chair at the middle table reserved for the prime minister in the Knesset plenum. But the agenda being implemented is not his own. This week, the Knesset passed an electoral reform package for Lapid and Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman, voted to draft ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students for Lapid and Bennett, and approved a referendum bill for Bennett. In closed conversations this week, Likud ministers and MKs were gloomy. They voted for the first two bills, even though they disagreed with them due to their concerns about losing the party’s historic bond with the haredim. And although Likud MKs sponsored the referendum bill, its passage reminded them of the concessions being made to the Palestinians by their government behind their backs. The Likud politicians complained that although Netanyahu is prime minister, the real leader blazing his agenda through the Knesset, the cabinet, the Treasury and behind the scenes in negotiations with the Palestinians is Lapid, whose name means torch in Hebrew. In an interview at his Knesset office this week, Lapid declared victory over the passage of the bills and expressed confidence that his party would do more to change the character of the state – and perhaps even its borders – in the government’s second year in office. Lapid boasted that out of the five main promises his party made ahead of last year’s election, four were already being implemented: The electoral system was changed, the conscription bill was passed, diplomatic talks with the Palestinians were restarted, and educational reforms are being carried out. The only one of the five that he said has not been done was lowering the cost of housing market – a goal that he said required a lot more work. “I was thrilled that we passed two really important bills this week and fulfilled core principle of Yesh Atid, but I can’t be happy yet, because there is still a lot of work to be done to bring the haredim into the labor market in the right way.” Lapid said he also could not be happy, because of the behavior of Labor chairman Isaac Herzog, who boycotted all three votes in the Knesset while building an alliance with Shas and United Torah Judaism that could serve him following the next election. Shas leader Arye Deri even said he wants Herzog to be the next prime minister. “It pisses me off that ‘Buji’ [Herzog] didn’t come to vote on the draft,” he said. “Not everything is about politics. If his way of becoming an alternative to Netanyahu is to sell his soul to Shas and lose his spine at the same time, he doesn’t understand Israelis. There is not a single Labor voter who wants ‘Buji’ to befriend the convicted felon Deri, and who doesn’t want haredim to serve.” Lapid predicted that current haredi anger will pass, as more people from the sector enter the workforce. He said he respected haredi frustration but blamed it on “totally misled feelings that someone has harmed their way of life.” When asked what his party will try to advance over the coming year, Lapid said without hesitation: Civil marriage. A bill sponsored by Yesh Atid MKs Aliza Lavie and Ruth Calderon would create a secular marriage track that would grant couples the legal rights of marriage, without forcing them to go through the rabbinate. “We want to enable people who love each other to live together in a way recognized by the state, without the rabbinate’s approval, whether they are gay, Reform, Conservative or secular,” he said. “We think it’s another major change that’s needed in Israeli society. The current situation splits Israeli society and disconnects many people from around the world from Israel. It’s our duty to change this.” Asked whether such a bill had a chance of passing, he said he was undaunted. “Many people told me we would be crushed on our way to pass the draft law as others were before, but we still made it happen,” he said. “We have proven that we are very good at getting things done. Sometimes it takes pushing and shoving and dirty political hard labor to achieve the most pure goals.” Lapid promised that civil registration could take place without challenging Israel’s identity. He noted that there are already some 6,000 alternative ceremonies a year. “People just want to be acknowledged as a couple,” he said. “Marriage is before God, while this is before the state. Both are symbolic. There is no logic that the country demands that people be acknowledged by the rabbinate, an institute they don’t believe in, not the state that they do believe in.”
Speaking before rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip intensified Wednesday, Lapid said he expected the diplomatic process with the Palestinians to dominate headlines over the coming months. “The government, the coalition and the party will all be tested,” he said. “There will be obstacles, so we will have to be determined. We said we would not sit in a coalition that will not push the peace process forward. I will push forward for Israel to do everything possible and necessary to keep the thing alive.” Lapid said Israelis are supposed to be upset with the Americans, for going too far to please the Palestinians. An Israel Democracy Institute poll this week found that 74 percent of Israeli Jews believe Israel is being pressured more by the US, 12% said both sides are being equally pressured, and only 5% said the Palestinians are being more pressured. He blasted US President Barack Obama’s interview with journalist Jeffrey Goldberg ahead of Netanyahu’s visit, in which Obama was critical of Israel’s peacemaking efforts. “I thought the timing was horrible,” he said. “I hoped it would not hurt Obama’s meeting with the prime minister. Apparently it did the reverse. All the steam was blown before the meeting, which according to my understanding went well.” Lapid said he was not surprised to see Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas toughen his stance a month before the deadline that US Secretary of State John Kerry set to reach an American framework proposal. “Abbas has his own backyard,” he said. “In the Middle East, people negotiate while also negotiating with the extremists in their own backyard. Both sides will toughen up before the paper is laid down.” Once an agreement is reached, Lapid said, it will be the duty of his party’s voters to push the government to pass it, as well as the people in a national referendum. He expressed confidence that they could succeed on both fronts. “All those who favor the twostate solution will have to do more than stay home and be bitter,” he said. “They will have to go out into the field, not leave the streets only to the people who are against it, like they have in the past. That is the way to succeed.” • Do you want to be a deputy minister like other secondLikud MKs? When I met the prime minister after the last election, he asked if I want to be a deputy minister. I pointed to a plant that was on the table and asked him if he thinks I’m similar to the plant. He knows there’s no chance I’ll take that job. I didn’t feel that I can take significant action as a deputy minister, and I have no doubt that I am privileged to be in the Knesset. That’s why I took this job, aside from the fact that the prime minister said he needs me for reserve duty and I respect him. I want to be somewhere where I do things, not just have a title. What do you want to do in the Knesset, now that you won’t be coalition chairman? I have two big goals. The first is to change the way leadership of the legal system is appointed. Judges pick themselves, but we need a balance. A minority group with post-Zionist views took over the judiciary and is trying to use it to force its views on the public, even though it doesn’t have a majority in the Knesset. We need to change how the High Court president, the attorney-general and state attorney are chosen. The court needs to be more Zionist and Jewish. If we’re a Jewish state with a democratic government, there should not be court decisions that are wearing down the Jewish element and moving us to an undemocratic system. It’s clear that these decisions endanger our ability to have a Jewish majority with Jewish values. If anyone tried to pass the Law of Return today, the right of any Jew in the world to come to Israel and be a citizen, which anchors our commitment and connection to world Jewry, it would be rejected by the High Court. They would call it not equal and not proportionate. That brings me to my second goal, which is to pass Basic Law: Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People. I’m working on it with [Bayit Yehudi faction chairwoman] Ayelet Shaked. We’re not saying anything new; we’re going back to the basic principles that built this state. Didn’t Livni appoint Prof. Ruth Gavison to take care of that? That is the highest price I paid for the job I have now. I had to bring compromise and prevent arguments, so I couldn’t promote something that caused discord… Once I can dedicate time to this bill, I think we can create a situation in which we have a broad understanding and allow it to pass. What impact would such a law have on negotiations with the Palestinians, since Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is demanding the other side recognize Israel as the Jewish state? Palestinians refuse to recognize the right of Jews to have a state in this entire region. I think there is an attempt to blur things and say the Palestinians have a right to their own state, but Jews should live in a state of all citizens, plus allow Palestinians to immigrate into Israel. A clear Israeli law will be significant in diplomacy. It’ll show our insistence that we are a Jewish state. On the topic of negotiations, the Land of Israel Caucus, which you lead, had some very harsh things to say to US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro about American efforts to mediate. I respect and value Shapiro; he’s an honest man with a warm connection to Israel. Still, it wasn’t an easy meeting. Shapiro wanted to hear firsthand the feelings and positions of MKs in the Land of Israel Caucus, and I told him in advance that we won’t be politically correct. We wanted to speak openly, even if it wasn’t pleasant. Unfortunately, parts [ of the closed meeting] were recorded, which I think was inappropriate, but it was an important meeting. Shapiro came out understanding that a significant part of the Knesset stands for our right to the land. Peace won’t come from mass transfers of Jews from their homes or from moving us out of important Jewish centers since biblical times, like Hebron and Shiloh. We encouraged the prime minister to protect settlements and other things that are important to Israel. LEVIN ISN’T only focused on changes inside Israel; he’s working on his Diaspora connection as well. Between an upcoming trip to the Australian Friends of Likud and deep family roots in the South African Jewish community, the lawmaker emphasized the need for Israel to invest in strengthening its connection to world Jewry. “Jewish communities and their leaders have an important role in changing the way Israel is treated around the world and creating a more balanced picture,” Levin explained. “Where there is a strong Zionist community, strongly connected to Israel, it influences relations between Israel and that country. It is no coincidence that Canada and Australia are two countries that are geographically far from Israel, but very close to our stances. ” How do you think the government should preserve its ties to Diaspora communities? We need to help leaders who are working to affiliate Jews with their community. When people feel like they’re part of a community, they strengthen themselves and their community and are able to better pass on the message to the younger generation. We should send emissaries to communities and invest in initiatives like Masa and Taglit-Birthright. When I am the guest of Australian Friends of Likud, I hope to convey to them that MKs and ministers and public leaders in Israel want to hear what is important to their community, and what their needs and expectations are from Israel. I hope to get and give answers that will strengthen our connection. Bennett, who is also the minister of Jerusalem and Diaspora affairs, talked about changing the paradigm from pushing world Jewry to move to Israel, to working with Jews who want to stay in the Diaspora. Is that what you’re saying should be done? I think we need to combine the two. There won’t be aliya without strengthening communities. We need to deal with the threat of the younger generation distancing itself from Zionism and Jewish identity by making sure they’re affiliated with communities, but we still want to encourage aliya and happily accept everyone who comes. We wouldn’t exist without aliya, but I don’t think that comes at the expense of Diaspora communities. It is a result of their strength. As for communities in places like France and Ukraine, I think we need to make a special effort to help them come to Israel in their time of crisis, like we did with the former Soviet Union and Ethiopian Jewry. It’s the meaning of Zionism, and will improve their personal security and quality of life. • Syria for two years. Hezbollah can surprise us. We will also surprise it. That’s what we’re preparing for now, maneuvering into a village,” the source said. The jeeps entered the village and officers began a foot patrol, before gathering in a semi-circle. Palestinians walked by and drove through in vehicles. Two men in a car waved, and greeted the soldiers in Hebrew. One woman began filming the commanders from afar on her cell phone. “The officers must become acclimatized to interacting with civilian populations,” the source said. “That’s part of the drill.” In the background, mosque loudspeakers called Muslims to prayer. Col. Dotan, the brigade commander, stood facing his officers. “At the moment, we are hidden from the north, but are exposed to the south,” Lotan said. “Look at your plans and see if they are applicable” An intense debate began among the commanders. Can D-9 bulldozers open a path for armored vehicles on one particular route? Opposing views were aired, each with supporting arguments. Lotan resumed his talk, and the officers fell silent. “We’re passing through different terrains here. From an open territory, we descended into a narrow bottleneck, directly into a built-up village… a company commander must decide how to enter a space like this. Any force that tries to get past a fence can be hit with an anti-tank missile. That’s why it’s so important to deploy look-outs. Make sure you are working in coordination with your maps,” he said. “If a mistake occurs, don’t continue as normal, and make it worse. Look at this wall, you can set up a position behind it. Realize that moving past this kind of area will not take 20 minutes. It will take longer than that… This mission is time-limited,” he added. Eventually, the officers got back into their vehicles and left the area, marking the end of the drill. Lt.-Col Or expressed confidence that such exercises boosted his ability to attack Hezbollah. “I have all of the tools and training to prepare me for combat,” he said. •