Haaretz is heartbroken. With all of his other faults, Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid was outed by the New York Times this week for
not being a two-stater.
Did you think the new politician is a politician without ideology?
You were wrong. Lapid’s ideology is peace without dividing Jerusalem, a
diplomatic agreement without Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and
the two-state solution without freezing construction in the settlements.
Lapid’s plan is to wait a good few years and then some until the
permanent borders are drawn up, and in the meantime to give benefits to
Israelis who move to the settlements. Regarding Jerusalem and the
Palestinians, Ehud Olmert’s good friend turns out to be an exact copy of
Benjamin Netanyahu; when it comes to the settlers, Tommy Lapid’s son is
far to the right of Netanyahu.
The
fundamental interview in the New York Times proves that the man who
inherited Kadima’s place in the center of the political map is not a man
of the political center. Just like in economics, in politics he is the
same: Lapid is a conservative in a t-shirt. What he is proposing for
Israel is not left and is not center, but a new and cool right wing.
It
is good that Lapid is finally speaking his truth. What was murky during
the election campaign has been made clear. What was blurred since the
government was formed, has been clarified. The cat has been let out of
the bag. It is reasonable to assume that the Finance Minister’s new
positioning as the leader of the new right will benefit him politically.
It will strengthen his power of attraction with the nationalistic part
of the political map. Both Avigdor Lieberman’s voters and Lieberman’s
values can be found in Yesh Atid, a more elegant home than the old home
of Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel is our Home). If he acts wisely, the new
icon of right-wing Tel Aviv can swallow Jerusalem’s veteran right-wing
camp too, as he offers Israel a great vision of handsome
neo-conservatism.
But
the political significance of Lapid’s words is clear: They block the
path to a peace agreement and do not allow a unilateral move. They
restrain the Finance Minister and bind Netanyahu − and turn the
government into a government of the old, new and extreme right. The
celebrity who came to change things did not really intend on changing
the status quo in Judea and Samaria. The star who promised to cut the
budget of the settlement enterprise is now about to send the settlements
billions. While he waits for an undefined peace that will never arrive,
the brother of Naftali Bennett is ready to promote Bennett’s dream of a
million settlers. Without intending to do so and without being aware of
it, Lapid is about to bury once and for all the idea of dividing up the
land of Israel.
Boo. Hoo. Heh.
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