Tommy Lapid | |
|---|---|
טומי לפיד | |
.jpg) Lapid reporting from theEichmann trial in 1961 | |
| Ministerial roles | |
| 2003–2004 | Deputy Prime Minister |
| 2003–2004 | Minister of Justice |
| Faction represented in theKnesset | |
| 1999–2006 | Shinui |
| 2006 | Secular Faction |
| Other roles | |
| 2005 | Leader of the Opposition |
| 2005 | Shadow Prime Minister |
| 2005 | Shadow Vice Prime Minister |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Tomislav Lampel (1931-12-27)27 December 1931 |
| Died | 1 June 2008(2008-06-01) (aged 76) Tel Aviv, Israel |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3, includingYair |
Joseph "Tommy"Lapid (Hebrew:יוסף "טומי" לפיד; bornTomislav Lampel [Serbian Cyrillic:Томислав Лампел]; 27 December 1931 – 1 June 2008) was aYugoslav-born Israeli radio and television presenter, playwright, journalist, politician andgovernment minister known for his sharp tongue and acerbic wit.[1] Lapid headed the secular-liberalShinui party from 1999 to 2006. He fiercely opposed theultra-Orthodox political parties and actively sought to exclude any religious observance from the legal structure of the Israeli State.[2] He was the father ofYair Lapid, who served as the 14thPrime Minister of Israel in 2022.
Lapid was born inNovi Sad,Kingdom of Yugoslavia (modern-daySerbia), to a family ofHungarian Jewish descent. His family was seized by theNazis and deported to theBudapest Ghetto. His father, Dr. Béla (Meir) Lampel, a lawyer and Zionist leader, was deported toMauthausen concentration camp, where he was murdered. His grandmother Hermina was murdered inAuschwitz.[3] Lapid and his mother were rescued byRaoul Wallenberg inBudapest.[4][5] They survived the war and moved to Israel in 1948[1] where he worked at the Hungarian-language Israeli paperÚj Kelet withRudolf Kasztner. After serving as a radio operator in theIsrael Defense Forces between 1950 and 1953, Lapid graduated with a law degree fromTel Aviv University in 1957.[1] He marriedShulamit Giladi, an acclaimed novelist;[6] they had three children. Their son,Yair Lapid, is the chairman of the political partyYesh Atid, which became the second-biggest party in the 2013 Israeli elections, and was a columnist and television host. Yair became Prime Minister of Israel on 1 July 2022. Tommy and Shulamit's youngest daughter, Merav, is a clinical psychologist. Their elder daughter, Michal, was killed in a car accident in 1984.[6][7]
Lapid started out as a journalist for the Israeli Hungarian-language newspaperÚj Kelet.[8] Later, he was hired by the mainstream dailyMaariv, where he became an influential publicist, and went on to become director-general of theIsrael Broadcasting Authority and chairman of the Cable TV Union. He was also the founding editor of Israeli women's magazineAt, as well as a successful playwright.
In the 1990s Lapid was a regular guest on the political talk showPopolitika aired onChannel 1 which often turned into a shouting match; later on he moved to theChannel 2 talk show,Politika.
In October 1994, on aCanada AM TV show interview with ex-Mossad agentVictor Ostrovsky, journalistValerie Pringle spoke by phone with Lapid regarding recent inflammatory comments he had made on Popolitika regarding Ostrovsky and his latest book, "The Other Side of Deception." Lapid reiterated his earlier comments that he felt Ostrovsky was a traitor to Israel and hoped that "there will be a decent Jew in Canada who can assassinate him for us."[9][10][11]
Lapid was awarded theSokolov Award, Israel's top award in journalism, in 1998, for his weekly radio show.[8]
In the late 1990s, Lapid joinedAvraham Poraz's Shinui party, which boosted the party's standing in the Israeli political scene. Lapid became party chairman and Shinui won six seats in the1999 elections, with Lapid entering the Knesset for the first time. In the2003 elections the party ran on a secularist platform and won 15 seats, making it the third-largest in the Knesset afterLikud andLabour. Shinui was invited to join the government ofAriel Sharon and Lapid was appointedDeputy Prime Minister andMinister of Justice.[1]
It was suggested that Israel's pro-Serbian position in 1999, was a result of the Serbian population's history of saving Jews during theHolocaust, personal memories of which were still present among older Israeli politicians, such as Lapid, serving in government at the time.[12]
Between 2001 and 2006, Lapid, via a bill passed by the Knesset, established the commission of "Future Generations", headed by retired judgeShlomo Shoham, an office that was later closed down by a bill passed by then Knesset member and Chairman of the Knesset Committee,Yariv Levin, on the grounds that the commission was a "big malfunction" in which "a commissioner sits above us while we're the elected officials. Apparently, this commissioner was granted the 'prophecy' that he knows what is best for future generations." In a rebuttal, Shoham stated that "the Chairman of the Knesset Committee does not understand the essence of the position of "Commissioner of Future Generations" within the checks and balances of democracy."[13]
The tension between Shinui and Likud grew when the ultra-Orthodox partyAgudat Yisrael was brought into the coalition. Shinui could not implement many of its electoral promises, such asinstituting civil marriage, and a dispute erupted over state aid to religious institutions. As a result, Shinui quit the coalition in December 2004. Lapid announced the formation of aShadow Cabinet based on the British model on 3 January 2005, before being appointedLeader of the Opposition a week later. 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 thedisengagement plan.[14]
In Shinui's primary elections held shortly before the2006 elections, Lapid retained the party leadership. However, his deputy Poraz lost second place on the list.[15] In the ensuing crisis, Poraz and several other Shinui MKs left the party and foundedHetz.[citation needed] Lapid left Shinui two weeks after the vote and announced his support for Poraz's new party,[16] but chose not to be involved in the new party's leadership, instead of 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.[citation needed]
In July 2006, Lapid was appointed Advisory Board Chairman ofYad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority, a role he called "a sacred duty".[1]
He appeared onCouncil of Wise Men, an Israeli television program onIsrael 10 channel. He hosted his own radio program onReshet Bet. He also was a chairman of the Israel Chess Society and served as an honorary member of theRaoul Wallenberg Foundation.
Lapid was hospitalized atIchilov Hospital inTel Aviv in serious condition on 30 May 2008.[17] He died on 1 June 2008, aged 76, after a battle with cancer.[18]
In March 2011, street Nova 30 inVeternik, a suburb ofNovi Sad, was renamed toulica Tomija Josefa Lapida (Serbian for "Tommy Joseph Lapid Street").[19][20]
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* entire or partial tenure as substitute justice minister, until a replacement was found | ||
Leaders of the opposition in Israel  | |
|---|---|
| Leader of the largest opposition party | |
| Officially designated opposition leader |
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