Yair Lapid must refrain from hosting next week’s Remembrance Day ceremony for
the Tel Aviv Municipality, MK Danny Danon said on Monday night.
Danon
wrote a letter to Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai demanding that the television host-turned-politician be replaced after 15 years of hosting “Singing in the Square,”
the municipality’s annual event commemorating fallen soldiers that is held in
Rabin Square.
The ceremony, which is open to the public and aired on
Channel 10, consists of popular singers performing songs in memory of the
fallen, as well as interviews with bereaved families and Lapid reading poetry on
the topic.
Last month, Lapid wrote on his Facebook page that he had
originated Singing in the Square and could continue to host it without making it
political. But Danon disagreed.
“Yair Lapid cannot be allowed to take
advantage of his former position to promote his current political agenda,” the
MK told The Jerusalem Post. “He cannot have his cake and eat it, too. He needs
to understand that a television host who became a left-wing politician must
behave accordingly.”
Lapid, whose views are generally considered centrist
to left-of-center, says he planned to establish a political party called Atid
(Future).
According to Danon, not all bereaved families agree with
Lapid’s political views and expect him to step down as host of Singing in the
Square.
“Someone as self-righteous as Lapid ought to disqualify himself
from hosting the ceremony,” Danon explained.