Breaking silence, new pol Lapid slams ‘rotten’ system

JERUSALEM (AP) — TV anchorman-turned-politician Yair Lapid broke his silence Thursday, making his first public speaking appearance since he quit hosting Channel 2’s weekend news show last month and established a political party.

Speaking at a business conference in Eilat, Lapid lashed out against a wide range of ills he said were plaguing the country — from political corruption to the disproportionate power of business tycoons to ultra-Orthodox Jews who don’t serve in the military.

He attacked those who “live on our expense” and railed against a “rotten” political system that has become a “corrupt game” in which Israelis are extorted by sectorial parties who represent those who don’t work and don’t serve in the military — a presumed reference to the ultra-Orthodox.

“The Palestinians don’t need to battle us,” Lapid said, commenting for the first time on the issue of Israel’s security. “They can make a cup of coffee, light a cigarette and wait 12 years and the Zionist country will crumble from within.”

Lapid’s entry into politics has created a huge buzz in Israel and energized opposition to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The son of Joseph “Tommy” Lapid — a former newspaper columnist and TV personality who also founded his own party and went on to become Israel’s justice minister — Lapid is one of the country’s most recognizable faces, bringing a rare star quality to Israeli politics.

Elections are currently set for late 2013. But some analysts believe they could take place as early as this year. Polls show Lapid’s new party — which has no name as yet — could win as many as 15 seats in the 120-seat parliament and eventually become the second largest party in the country, trailing only Netanyahu’s Likud.

Little is known about Lapid’s views when it comes to regional politics. But in his columns and television commentaries he portrays himself as a reasonable and pragmatic common man, patriotic yet critical of the government and sympathetic to social issues.

Such views could make him attractive to centrist Israelis and he is expected to primarily take votes away from the centrist opposition Kadima party, which has recently seen its support plunge in opinion polls.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.