It is safer to be Jew in New York than in Israel, Minister of Finance Yair Lapid told an enthusiastic audience at the 92 Street Y community center in Manhattan. The audience was enthralled by his every word and frequently applauded him.
Lapid was eloquent, merry, and did not let his interviewer, PBS host Charlie Rose, trip him up or maneuver him into answering questions that he preferred to avoid. Lapid knew how to play the New York audience's chords, with remarks about the Holocaust and anti-Semitism, including his recent visit to Hungary. But most of his remarks were directed at his home audience in Israel, in an effort to rebuff the frequent criticism that he is neglecting most of his voters.
Lapid repeatedly mentioned what he described as his concern for the interests of the middle class and his efforts to help it. He tried to position himself in the middle as neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor Labor Party chairwoman MK Shelly Yachimovich, in his responses about policy questions.
Asked why not return east Jerusalem to the Palestinians as part of a peace agreement, instead of absorbing so many Palestinians, residents of the city, in Israel, Lapid said, "It isn't always possible to assume that everything is rational. Israel was founded as a refuge for the Jewish people, but today it isn't a safe place. It is safer to be Jew in New York. I want to live in a country that is not just a place, but also an idea, and Jerusalem is the heart of the idea. There may be practical considerations, but a country cannot exist without an ethos, and Jerusalem is an ethos.
"I like Tel Aviv; I live in Tel Aviv, but our right of return is Jerusalem. We did not return after 2,000 years for Tel Aviv, but for Jerusalem." Later, Lapid said, "Jerusalem will not be divided. It will continue to be Israel's capital."
Rose quoted an Israeli friend who complained that Lapid was not "pro-business" enough. Lapid replied that he definitely favored the business community, but emphasized that he was not elected to represent businesspeople, but the middle class. "My job is to protect them and represent their interests," he said, adding that Israel's middle class feel that they have greatly contributed to Israel's growth, but that they reap few of the fruits. There is a gap between growth and the middle class's income. To the disappointment of some of the audience, this was the only economic question directed at Lapid.
Asked how he defined his profile as a writer, Lapid said, "I wanted to be the voice of normalcy, not someone who deals with fateful issues, such as war, Holocaust remembrance, or human existence, but to answer questions like why daycare centers open at 9 when I begin work at 8."
Asked what was wrong with the Labor Party, Lapid replied, "A lot. I'd need four hours to discuss it. Labor has become the radical left. It wants to impose too high taxes. Labor is a socialist party in a world where socialism isn't going anywhere. That's a pity, because the Labor Party, in its previous incarnations, it founded the state and it should be given a lot of credit for that. I hope that the party will return to itself and join the government, because that is its place."
After mentioning that Yitzhak Rabin was his hero, Lapid was asked if he would emulate Rabin if he became prime minister. "I'm in no hurry," he replied, adding that the current government could survive a full term. It has a lot of "good vibes" and the ministers want to work together.
Asked what worried him, Lapid replied, "Housing, education, the middle class. This year 40% of Grade 1 pupils are haredim (ultra-orthodox). It's a challenge."
Asked about his relations with Minister of the Economy Naftali Bennett, Lapid replied laconically, "He's a friend."
As for his position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Lapid said that he supported peace and two countries for two nations, which meant that settlements would be evacuated and that there would be a territorial exchange. But he refused to say which settlements would be evacuated. "Things don’t work that way in the Middle East," he said. "You don’t say in advance what you're going to give."
Lapid said, "What people don’t understand is that the dispute isn't just about security and the right of return, but it's about fear, hate, bad memories, and distrust, and so long as these exist, the situation will continue to be difficult. It is therefore a good thing that US Secretary of State John Kerry allocated nine months for the new negotiations with the Palestinians. That's enough time to build confidence."
In a different context, Lapid said, "I'm not seeking a happy marriage with the Palestinians. I want a divorce." He added, "The two sides want different things from security arrangements: the Israelis want peace and security; the Palestinians want peace and justice. Security is a situation is a situation in which they won't kill me."
In response to Rose's comment that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's security is not Rabin's security, Lapid said that security was determined by circumstances. "Once, the Egyptian Army, with its many tanks, was the main threat. Then the Syrian Army took its place as a major threat. Now, the threats against Israel are more complicated."
Rose: Following President Obama's response to the use of chemical weapons in Syria, do you think that the US will use military force against Iran if diplomatic efforts fail?
Lapid: "I trust America. It is Israel's good friend. But I am not sure about anything." He stubbornly evaded saying what would happen whether the US's red line for Iran was different from Israel's red line. He said that he was prepared to give diplomacy with Iran a chance, but, "Deceit and lies have always been a part of Iran's strategic arsenal. Two things must happen before sanctions are eased: Iran must give up its centrifuges, which are not needed for nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, and its plutonium reactor, which has no peaceful uses."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on October 8, 2013
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