Yair Lapid, Israel's man of the 'future'

[ikilledkenny86]

Jerusalem (CNN) -- Yair Lapid, the charismatic journalist-turned-politician who surprisingly vaulted to second place in Israel's national election, has long been a familiar face across the Jewish state

Comments

[metanoiame]

Well, he might do some good for Israeli domestic politics, especially if he manages to push a coalition government towards dismantling the exemptions given to ultra-orthodox community. But he's definitely not a progressive when it comes towards foreign politics, the Palestinian conflict, and Israel's image in the world, in case anyone was wondering...

[hinoema]

I was. My first thought was 'is he less of an asshole?'

[metanoiame]

From what (little) I know, he seems to be not an asshole, but not NOT an asshole. He's not openly racist and xenophobic, and he is for two-state negotiations, but he also supports settlers and calls for Jerusalem be completely under Israeli control. So, we'll see how this turns out...at least Israeli voters are showing they don't always blindly support right-wing governments.

[serendipity_15]

So he's potentially less of an asshole then?

[yamamanama]

They're both assholes, just different genera of assholes.

[ikilledkenny86]

He did say he is for a two state solution and he's against settlement expansion. That wasn't a focal point of his campaign because this election was mostly focused on the social/domestic aspect.

[slurp]

Apparently there is already a law that the Orthodox aren't exempt, but it's not enforced. So he's pushing a law that already exists.