Lapid to head of Channel 2: Not entering politics now

“As far as I know, thoughts and expressions are still not forbidden in the state of Israel,” anchorman tells Avi Weiss.

By GIL STERN STERN HOFFMAN
yair lapid 311 (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
yair lapid 311
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
Channel 2 anchorman Yair Lapid responded personally on Monday, for the first time, to criticism that he had crossed the line from journalism into politics, when he wrote a letter to his boss, Channel 2 director-general Avi Weiss.
In the letter, Lapid said that he had no connection to any old or new political organization. He noted that he had said in the past that there was a slim chance he would enter politics, but he would not rule it out.
“As far as I know, thoughts and expressions are still not forbidden in the state of Israel,” Lapid wrote.
He said he was careful to prevent his views from influencing the way he anchored Channel 2’s Friday night news magazine Ulpan Shishi.
The Second Television Authority is expected to hold a hearing aboutLapid’s future next week, after he was caught on tape expressingpolitical views at a lecture in Herzliya last week.
In the speech, Lapid called for voters to return to the Center-Left,and he outlined a platform that included evacuating the West Bank andGolan Heights, drafting yeshiva students, transferring a fourth of thedefense budget to education, and limiting the number of ministers.
Second Television Authority chairman Amnon Nadav said in the wake ofthe speech that he would recommend Lapid’s firing at the hearing.
A rally will be held in the Knesset on Wednesday in support of KadimaMK Ronit Tirosh’s bill that would require a cooling-off period beforejournalists enter the Knesset.