‘Most exciting week in recent memory for Israeli politics’

Political correspondent Gil Hoffman discusses this week’s happenings from inside the Knesset.

By DEBORAH DANAN
Yair Lapid 311 (photo credit: Courtesy)
Yair Lapid 311
(photo credit: Courtesy)
Following a flurry of activity from the political arena, Jerusalem Post political correspondent Gil Hoffman dubbed this past week as “the most exciting in recent history.” 
With Yair Lapid leaving media to join politics, and Noam Schalit’s recent announcement that he will do the same, the question is whether these new candidates pose a threat to any existing MKs or parties.
Hoffman asserts that Yair Lapid poses a threat to Kadima, a party that has dominated the Center-Left bloc for seven years. According to Hoffman, opposition leader Tzipi Livni doesn’t have “anywhere near the charisma that Yair Lapid has,” and that for young people, “there’s no one cooler than Yair Lapid.” Hoffman believes that come election time, there is a strong chance that Lapid’s party will replace Kadima as the second largest party after Likud.
Hoffman also predicts that more household names will appear on the political horizon in the near future, including journalists and leaders of the socio-economic summer protests such as Daphni Leef or Izhik Shmueli.
Despite the recent political momentum, Hoffman posits that it is by no means indicative of imminent elections. According to Hoffman, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will do what it takes to keep this government in power for as long as possible and as such, it is likely that the next election will only take place in March 2013.