Lapid: 'I am not driven by fear'

In the wake of war in the south, and in the throes of a political storm and a face-off with the prime minister, Finance Minister Yair Lapid speaks in a special holiday interview about Gaza, the economy and his future ambitions.

Amira Lam|Published: 09.26.14 , 23:53

Yair Lapid, despite the ongoing battle over the budget, I want to go back first to the initial stages of Operation Protection Edge. You're sitting in the cabinet and need to make a decision on sending ground forces into Gaza. How do you feel there, alongside all the generals? After all, the last time you held a weapon, I assume, was in basic training.

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Lapid thinks for a moment or two. "I don't know if everyone who was in the room at the time completely grasped that moment," he half-says and half-wonders to himself. "I can't speak for others, but for the first time in my life, I need to raise my hand clearly knowing that I am sending soldiers to their death. I say to you now: Between the moment you raise your hand and the moment you lower it, which is 10 seconds, you become a different person. So with all due respect to the budget, with all due respect to zero-VAT, with all due respect to all of that, when you send soldiers (into battle), there are just eight people voting in the cabinet. We're not talking about 120 people; it's not the Israeli Knesset – here, your decision can tip the scales.

Television personality, party leader, Finance Minister, and family man, Yair Lapid. (Photo: Ilan Shapiro)

"They were the hardest decisions of my life. I asked myself the question that, I believe, anyone who sends soldiers into war needs to ask himself: And if it was your son? If it had been Yoav or Lior, who will be enlisting in two months, would I have sent him to Gaza?

And the answer?

"The answer is yes. My heart broke inside me 72 times during the course of this operation, but I am at ease with the decisions I made, and anyone who doesn't have the courage and inner strength to handle such situations shouldn't be among the country's leadership. But that night was a rough night.

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"And then I go home, and I so wanted my father to be there so that I could speak to him about it. But like all people who are close to their parents, I can speak to him even in his absence."

And what did Tommy say to you in that conversation?

"There's one sentence engraved on my father's tombstone: 'Here lies Yosef (Tommy) Lapid – he did his best.' And that's what he always says to me, during those nights in the cabinet too, and also during the treasury struggles: 'You can't be asked to do more than your best, but don't dare give anything less.'"

Are you hampered by your lack of experience – not just in times of war, but at the Finance Ministry too?

"When it comes to experience in my position, it accumulates in dog years – every year is seven years. But let's not forget that a fair number of the problems that awaited me when I took office – the deficit, the budgetary pit, the political paralysis, the housing crisis – were created by the most experienced people in the system. So experience is important, but the ability to promote new ideas is no less so. When I took up the position, one of the phenomena I encountered was people's fear of change: They know it's hard here, they know things have been managed incorrectly for a long time – and yet they are still overcome with fear whenever a change is in the offing.

Photo: Ofer Amram

"I see a similar paralysis time and again in the political establishment. People are stuck for years and years with the same ideas and nothing moves. So I respect experience, but not when it turns into fixation."

Apropos change, when do you think the next elections will take place?

"I have no idea."

But are you already preparing for them?

"In politics, you are always preparing for them and not preparing for them. So I can't really say. I only know that I don't see any reason for elections now."

Early last week it appeared as if your main points of contention with the prime minister – increasing the deficit, no additional taxes and the zero-VAT law – were heading for a solution. But could Netanyahu simply be playing you? Will taxes be raised nevertheless when the cabinet vote takes place in three weeks?

"Taxes can't be raised – because we would then simply quit and the government would fall. If anyone pulls a fast one on us with respect to taxes, I'll quit the government – no question. Because I wasn't born a politician, and it's not like I spent 30 years going from one branch to another until I eventually became finance minister, I can say: Yes, I do have red lines."

But in light of your party's weak showing in recent polls, wouldn't you be afraid to go to elections?

"No, I am driven by many things, but not by fear. As far as the polls are concerned, someone who was told three weeks before the elections that he'll have four seats and ended up with 19 doesn't take the polls too seriously. If we do things right, wholeheartedly and with pure intentions, I am sure things will be okay."

Do you still think you will be prime minister?

"I'm not going to answer that question. One does learn from experience after all. The public will decide."

Labor Party leader Isaac Herzog expressed last week what many people are thinking – that the battle that has been raging for the past few weeks between you and the prime minister is simply a war of egos.

"I can't speak for Netanyahu, but if my ego was the crux of the matter, I would have remained a television personality."

From his point of view, Lapid says, the red lines with regard to the budget debates have been drawn. Moreover, Gideon Sa'ar's recent resignation from the Knesset makes Lapid the leader of the largest parliamentary faction. So yes, there are those who think he knows nothing about economics, but he can count heads.

Are there times at which you miss your previous life?

"I don't miss my previous life for even a moment. And I won't go back to it either. My definition of a good life is a life with meaning. And today, I live a life of meaning."

Are you happy today?

"When I have time to think about it, then yes. Because I am doing something I believe in and I do it from the soul."

And what about the fact that from a public perspective, you appear less surrounded by love these days?

"I am someone who is surrounded by love. I have friends. I have an excellent family. After 25 years of marriage, I get the sense that Lihi has finally started to like me. And as for the public: If you come for the recognition of the gratitude, then it's not going to work anyway. You need to do what you believe in with patience, and with the understanding that these are lengthy processes – and to hope that the public too will understand that."