Does the global Left – as well as the Israeli Left – truly not care about the horrific Taliban regime, the terrible oppression of women in Gulf states, and the mass hanging festivals in Iran? – Yair Lapid
I’m willing to take a polygraph test to prove that I’m happy about Kahlon’s return to politics. He’s a good man, a man who cares. It’s good to have people like that in politics, I have no problem with that. – Yair Lapid
Intellectuals are people who manage the world in their head. They look at life and try to see some kind of truth, and if they cannot find it, they attempt to create it. – Yair Lapid
The Golan Heights is an area in the north of the State of Israel that has no part in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. – Yair Lapid
Quite a few people feel uncomfortable when faced with the claim that the Jews are the world’s smartest people. In our politically correct era, one is not expected to argue that one group within humanity has an advantage over all the others. – Yair Lapid
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. – Yair Lapid
The Palestinians must be brought to an understanding that Jerusalem will always remain under Israeli sovereignty and that there is no point for them in opening negotiations about Jerusalem. – Yair Lapid
I don’t feel we need a declaration from the Palestinians that they recognize Israel as a Jewish state. – Yair Lapid
The Israeli media are very important to me. I’ve been part of them and they a part of me all my adult life. – Yair Lapid
The democratic system is premised on trust in the masses’ wisdom. We believe that the collective is wiser than its parts and that, at the end of the day, it shall make the right choices and take the right decisions. – Yair Lapid
If someone doubts our right to exist – be it on the hills of Umm al-Fahem or in Munich’s beer halls, in Gaza’s crowded streets or in the thick woods of Babi Yar – it’s their problem. Proud states do not break into wails and crawl under the carpet when they discover someone doesn’t love them. – Yair Lapid
Jewish existence in the Land of Israel depends only on the Jews, and on what the Jews think of themselves. – Yair Lapid
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. – Yair Lapid
The Holocaust changed our perception of morality not only because we discovered that morality is the only thing that can stand up to the ultimate evil, but also because it shifted the focus from society to the individual. – Yair Lapid
The rabbis and their wives may say whatever they wish in private conversations. I may not like their views, but a person is allowed to say anything in his or her own home. – Yair Lapid
At times, we need to stop and rethink everything. Our entire history is made up of people who were sure they knew the truth yet forgot that the truth has an annoying tendency to change on occasion without us noticing it. – Yair Lapid
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. – Yair Lapid
Twenty percent of students in Israel’s schools are haredim; another 20% are retired; another 20% are Arab. I have no problem with any of them. – Yair Lapid
I feel we’re at risk that a whole generation of young Israelis, who went to the army, work hard, pay taxes, one day will look around and say, ‘Hey, this country is going nowhere.’ – Yair Lapid
There is a clear interest within ISIS to drag Israel into a war with them. If they do so, they will be able to paint Israel as having an alliance with the states fighting against them. – Yair Lapid
The settlers, as we know, are the only people in Israel who take the Left seriously. When you read the settlers’ publications, you think that the leftists are everywhere: The leftists infiltrate the government, the leftists run the Defense Ministry, the leftists dominate the legal establishment, and the leftists control the media, of course. – Yair Lapid
The win-win situation is the basis for America’s entire business world. Instead of wasting our time attempting to defeat each other, let’s find a way that will make both of us gain and go home satisfied. In Israel, it doesn’t work because the only meaning of victory is seeing your rival’s body lying trampled on the floor. – Yair Lapid
