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Photo: EPA
Yair Lapid
Photo: EPA

Lapid presents little-changed Knesset list

Yesh Atid chairman says his faction 'learned the hard way' during previous coalition, but was proud of its achievements and had learned from its mistakes.

Yesh Atid Chairman Yair Lapid launched the party's campaign for the 20th Knesset elections and presented his faction's electoral list on Monday evening. "We learned the hard way, from the mistakes we made at the beginning and the obstacles we had to overcome – that you need to put a knife between your teeth and fight for your country."

 

 

The six first slots on the list remained unchanged from the previous election, with five former ministers followed by Ofer Shelah. Behind Lapid in second place was Shai Piron, followed by Yael German, Meir Cohen, and Yaakov Peri.

 

Yesh Atid chairman at launch event (Photo: EPA)
Yesh Atid chairman at launch event (Photo: EPA)

 

The only new additions to the Yesh Atid list had already been announced as Eshkol Regional Council chief Haim Yellin and MK Elazer Stern – formerly of Hatnua. Yellin was placed in the seventh spot and Stern slotted in 12th.

 

The rest of the changes on the Yesh Atid list were also negligible, with Karin Elharar rising to eigth place and Boaz Toporovsky jumping to 14th. Aliza Lavie, on the other hand, fell to 10th place.

 

In his speech, Lapid noted what he defined as the faction's achievements in the previous government, including the legislation to draft haredim to the IDF, to decrease the size of the government, to fight the monopolies, to aid Holocaust survivors, and to prevent the transfer of excessive funds to the settlements.

 

Yair Lapid with youth activists at launch event (Photo: Elad Gutman)
Yair Lapid with youth activists at launch event (Photo: Elad Gutman)

In addressing the contentious bill to force haredi youth to enlist the military, Lapid slammed his rival from the Zionist Camp. "When we passed the haredi draft legislation, Buji Herzog and the Labor caucus sat outside the plenum, flattering the haredim. The convicted felon Aryeh Deri hugged Buji and told him that he was his prime minister; Litzman and Gafni thanked Labor for helping haredi youth avoid enlistment and not go to work."

 

Lapid admitted that his faction's first term in the government was not without its difficulties. "You know what, sometimes we also fought and lost – and still we are proud of those battles. Because we were the only faction in the coalition which fought against the strange idea that, in a country with the widest socio-economic gaps in the Western world, the prime minister wakes up one morning and decides that pistachio ice cream was not enough, the patio furniture in Caesarea was not enough; he would not be living the life until he had a private jet."

 

In the previous elections Yesh Atid garnered 19 mandates and – despite the stormy changes other factions have undergone since the Knesset disbanded – Lapid has managed to keep the personnel changes to a minimum. While Yellin and Stern joined, MKs Rina Frenkel, Shimon Solomon, and Adi Kol left the faction.

 


פרסום ראשון: 01.26.15, 23:56
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