Yosef Lapid
Encyclopedia
Yosef "Tommy" Lapid was an Israel
i television presenter, journalist, politician and government minister
known for his sharp tongue and acerbic wit. Lapid headed the secular-liberal Shinui
party from 1999–2006. He fiercely opposed the ultra-orthodox political parties and actively sought to exclude any religious observance from the legal structure of the Israeli State.
, Yugoslavia (present-day Serbia
) to a family of Hungarian
Jewish descent. His family was seized by the Nazis and deported to the Budapest
ghetto. His father was deported to a concentration camp, where he was murdered. Lapid and his mother survived the war and moved to Israel in 1948. After serving as a mechanic in the Israel Defense Forces
, Lapid studied law at Tel Aviv University
. He was married to Shulamit Lapid, an acclaimed novelist. They had three children. Their son, Yair Lapid
, is a well-known columnist and television host. Their oldest daughter, Michal, was killed in a car accident.
. Later, he was hired by Maariv
, where he became an influential publicist, and went on to become director-general of the Israel Broadcasting Authority
and chairman of the Cable TV Union. He was also the founding editor of Israeli women's magazine At, as well as a successful playwright.
In the 1990s was a regular guest on the political talk show Popolitika aired on Channel 1
which often turned into a shouting match, and later moved to a Channel 2 talk show, Politika. Lapid was awarded the Sokolow Prize, Israel's top award in journalism, in 1998, for his weekly radio show.
's Shinui party, which boosted the party's standing in the Israeli political scene. Lapid became party chairman and Shinui won six seats in the 1999 elections, with Lapid entering the Knesset for the first time. In the 2003 elections the party ran on a secularist platform and won 15 seats, making it the third largest in the Knesset after Likud
and Labour. Shinui was invited to join the government of Ariel Sharon
and Lapid was appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice
.
Tension between Shinui and Likud grew when the ultra-Orthodox party Agudat Israel
was brought into the coalition. Shinui could not implement many of its electoral promises, such as instituting civil marriage, and a dispute erupted over state aid to religious institutions. As a result, Shinui quit the coalition in December 2004. In late March 2005, Lapid voted in favor of the budget in exchange for minor concessions in order to keep the government from falling, which was liable to lead to early elections and impede the implementation of the disengagement plan
.
In Shinui's primary elections held shortly before the 2006 elections, Lapid retained the party leadership. However, his deputy Poraz lost second place on the list. In the ensuing crisis, Poraz and several other Shinui MKs left the party and founded Hetz
. Lapid left Shinui two weeks after the vote and announced his support for Poraz's new party, but chose not to be involved in the new party's leadership, instead serving as a figurehead. In the elections, he was allocated the symbolic 120th place on the Hetz list, but the party failed to win a seat.
, the Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority, a role he called "a sacred duty."
He appeared on Council of Wise Men, an Israeli television program on Israel 10
. He hosted his own radio program on Reshet Bet
. He also was a chairman of the Israel Chess Society and served as an honorary member of the Raoul Wallenberg Foundation
.
in serious condition on 30 May 2008. He died on 1 June 2008, aged 77, after a battle with cancer.
suburb of Novi Sad
was renamed to ulica Tomija Josefa Lapida.
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i television presenter, journalist, politician and government minister
Cabinet of Israel
The Cabinet of Israel is a formal body composed of government officials called ministers, chosen and led by the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister must appoint members based on the distribution of votes to political parties during legislative elections, and its composition must be approved by a...
known for his sharp tongue and acerbic wit. Lapid headed the secular-liberal Shinui
Shinui
Shinui is a Zionist, secular and anti-clerical free market liberal party and political movement in Israel. The party twice became the third largest in the Knesset, but both occasions were followed by a split and collapse; in 1977 the party won 15 seats as part of the Democratic Movement for...
party from 1999–2006. He fiercely opposed the ultra-orthodox political parties and actively sought to exclude any religious observance from the legal structure of the Israeli State.
Biography
Lapid was born in Novi SadNovi Sad
Novi Sad is the capital of the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina, and the administrative centre of the South Bačka District. The city is located in the southern part of Pannonian Plain on the Danube river....
, Yugoslavia (present-day Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
) to a family of Hungarian
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
Jewish descent. His family was seized by the Nazis and deported to the Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
ghetto. His father was deported to a concentration camp, where he was murdered. Lapid and his mother survived the war and moved to Israel in 1948. After serving as a mechanic in the Israel Defense Forces
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...
, Lapid studied law at Tel Aviv University
Tel Aviv University
Tel Aviv University is a public university located in Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv, Israel. With nearly 30,000 students, TAU is Israel's largest university.-History:...
. He was married to Shulamit Lapid, an acclaimed novelist. They had three children. Their son, Yair Lapid
Yair Lapid
Yair Lapid is an Israeli journalist, author, TV presenter, and news anchor.-Biography:He is the son of politician Yosef Lapid and author...
, is a well-known columnist and television host. Their oldest daughter, Michal, was killed in a car accident.
Media career
Lapid started out as a journalist for the Hungarian-language newspaper Új KeletÚj Kelet
Új Kelet is a Zionist Jewish newspaper in the Hungarian language which first appeared in Kolozsvár in Transylvania, Romania, and was later revived in Israel,in Tel Aviv....
. Later, he was hired by Maariv
Maariv
Maariv is a Hebrew language daily newspaper published in Israel. It is second in sales after Yedioth Ahronoth and third in readership after Yedioth Ahronoth and Israel HaYom. In a TGI survey comparing the last half of 2009 with the same period in 2008, Maariv saw its market share fall slightly...
, where he became an influential publicist, and went on to become director-general of the Israel Broadcasting Authority
Israel Broadcasting Authority
Israel Broadcasting Authority is Israel's state broadcasting network.It grew out of the radio station Kol Yisrael, which made its first broadcast as an independent station on . The name of the organisation operating Kol Yisrael was changed to Israel Broadcasting Service in 1951...
and chairman of the Cable TV Union. He was also the founding editor of Israeli women's magazine At, as well as a successful playwright.
In the 1990s was a regular guest on the political talk show Popolitika aired on Channel 1
Channel 1 (Israel)
Channel 1 is one of the oldest television channels in Israel and one of five terrestrial channels in the country...
which often turned into a shouting match, and later moved to a Channel 2 talk show, Politika. Lapid was awarded the Sokolow Prize, Israel's top award in journalism, in 1998, for his weekly radio show.
Political career
In the late 1990s, Lapid joined Avraham PorazAvraham Poraz
Avraham Poraz is an Israeli lawyer and former politician.- Biography :Poraz was born in Bucharest, Romania in 1945 and immigrated to Israel in 1950...
's Shinui party, which boosted the party's standing in the Israeli political scene. Lapid became party chairman and Shinui won six seats in the 1999 elections, with Lapid entering the Knesset for the first time. In the 2003 elections the party ran on a secularist platform and won 15 seats, making it the third largest in the Knesset after Likud
Likud
Likud is the major center-right political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin in an alliance with several right-wing and liberal parties. Likud's victory in the 1977 elections was a major turning point in the country's political history, marking the first time the left had...
and Labour. Shinui was invited to join the government of Ariel Sharon
Ariel Sharon
Ariel Sharon is an Israeli statesman and retired general, who served as Israel’s 11th Prime Minister. He has been in a permanent vegetative state since suffering a stroke on 4 January 2006....
and Lapid was appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice
Justice Minister of Israel
The Justice Minister of Israel is the political head of the Israeli Ministry of Justice and a position in the Israeli cabinet. The current minister is Ya'akov Ne'eman, an independent who is not a member of the Knesset....
.
Tension between Shinui and Likud grew when the ultra-Orthodox party Agudat Israel
Agudat Israel
Agudat Yisrael began as the original political party representing the ultra-Orthodox population of Israel. It was the umbrella party for almost all ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel, and before that in the British Mandate of Palestine...
was brought into the coalition. Shinui could not implement many of its electoral promises, such as instituting civil marriage, and a dispute erupted over state aid to religious institutions. As a result, Shinui quit the coalition in December 2004. In late March 2005, Lapid voted in favor of the budget in exchange for minor concessions in order to keep the government from falling, which was liable to lead to early elections and impede the implementation of the disengagement plan
Israel's unilateral disengagement plan
Israel's unilateral disengagement plan , also known as the "Disengagement plan", "Gaza expulsion plan", and "Hitnatkut", was a proposal by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, adopted by the government on June 6, 2004 and enacted in August 2005, to evict all Israelis from the Gaza Strip and from...
.
In Shinui's primary elections held shortly before the 2006 elections, Lapid retained the party leadership. However, his deputy Poraz lost second place on the list. In the ensuing crisis, Poraz and several other Shinui MKs left the party and founded Hetz
Hetz (political party)
Hetz was a secularist political party in Israel.-Background and ideology:Hetz was formed in the aftermath of the breakup of Shinui towards the end of the 16th Knesset...
. Lapid left Shinui two weeks after the vote and announced his support for Poraz's new party, but chose not to be involved in the new party's leadership, instead serving as a figurehead. In the elections, he was allocated the symbolic 120th place on the Hetz list, but the party failed to win a seat.
Non-political activities
On July 2006, Lapid was appointed chairman of Yad VashemYad Vashem
Yad Vashem is Israel's official memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, established in 1953 through the Yad Vashem Law passed by the Knesset, Israel's parliament....
, the Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority, a role he called "a sacred duty."
He appeared on Council of Wise Men, an Israeli television program on Israel 10
Israel 10
Channel 10 , formerly known as Israel 10 is a commercial broadcasting television channel licensed in Israel. It operates under the auspices of the Second Israeli Broadcasting Authority .-History:...
. He hosted his own radio program on Reshet Bet
Kol Yisrael
Kol Yisrael is Israel's public domestic and international radio service, operated as a division of the Israel Broadcasting Authority.-History:...
. He also was a chairman of the Israel Chess Society and served as an honorary member of the Raoul Wallenberg Foundation
Raoul Wallenberg
Raoul Wallenberg was a Swedish businessman, diplomat and humanitarian. He is widely celebrated for his successful efforts to rescue thousands of Jews in Nazi-occupied Hungary from the Holocaust, during the later stages of World War II...
.
Death
Lapid was hospitalized at Ichilov Hospital in Tel AvivTel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
in serious condition on 30 May 2008. He died on 1 June 2008, aged 77, after a battle with cancer.
Other
In March 2011, street Nova 30 in VeternikVeternik
Veternik is a suburban settlement near Novi Sad, Serbia. It is located between Novi Sad and Futog. Its population numbers 16,895 and most of its inhabitants are ethnic Serbs...
suburb of Novi Sad
Novi Sad
Novi Sad is the capital of the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina, and the administrative centre of the South Bačka District. The city is located in the southern part of Pannonian Plain on the Danube river....
was renamed to ulica Tomija Josefa Lapida.
External links
- http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/tommy-lapid-champion-of-secularism-in-israel-839561.htmlTommy Lapid: Champion of secularism in Israel on The IndependentThe IndependentThe Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
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