Yesh Atid
|
Yesh Atid
יש עתיד |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Leader | Yair Lapid |
| Founded | January 2012 |
| Ideology |
Liberalism Secularism Social liberalism Liberal Zionism Two-state solution |
| Political position | Centre |
| International affiliation | None |
| Knesset |
11 / 120
|
| Most MKs | 19 (2013) |
| Election symbol | |
| פה | |
| Website | |
| www |
|
Yesh Atid (Hebrew: יֵשׁ עָתִיד, lit. There is a Future) is a political party founded by former journalist Yair Lapid in 2012 that seeks to represent what it considers the center of Israeli society: the secular middle class. It focuses primarily on civic, socioeconomic, and governance issues, including government reform and ending military draft exemptions for the ultra-Orthodox.
In 2013, Yesh Atid placed second in the general election, winning 19 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, far more than polls had predicted it would win. It then entered into a coalition led by Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud.
In the 2015 election, the party refused to back Netanyahu and joined the opposition after suffering a significant setback in the polls.
In early 2010 speculation arose in the Israeli media concerning the possibility that Israeli journalist and television figure Yair Lapid, who at the time worked as a news anchor at Channel 2, would end his career in journalism and begin a career in Israeli politics. Initially Lapid dismissed these reports. The Knesset initiated legislation to lessen the influx of Israeli journalists running for a position by prohibiting them as candidates in the first year after they ended their journalist careers.
Despite widespread interest in Lapid, he declined to be interviewed. He gained support through social networks, primarily his Facebook page. Among his official announcements, Lapid said he would not join Kadima or the Israeli Labor Party. In addition, Lapid announced that he would work to change the system of government, have all Israelis conscripted to serve time in the army, and would work to change the Israeli matriculation programme. In early January 2012, Lapid officially announced that he would quit journalism in order to enter politics, and that he would lead a new party.
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