{{Short description|Israeli journalist and politician (1931–2008)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Tommy Lapid | native_name = {{Nobold|{{Script/Hebrew|טומי לפיד}}}} | native_name_lang = he | image = Tommy Lapid at Eichman trial1961 (cropped).jpg | caption = Lapid reporting from the Eichmann trial in 1961 | office = Leader of the Opposition | term_start = 10 January 2005 | term_end = 23 November 2005 | prime_minister = Ariel Sharon | predecessor = Shimon Peres | successor = Amir Peretz | office1 = Ministerial roles | suboffice1 = Deputy Prime Minister | subterm1 = 2003–2004 | suboffice2 = Minister of Justice | subterm2 = 2003–2004 | office3 = Faction represented in the Knesset | suboffice3 = Shinui | subterm3 = 1999–2006 | suboffice4 = Secular Faction | subterm4 = 2006 | office5 = Other roles | suboffice5 = Shadow Prime Minister | subterm5 = 2005 | suboffice6 = Shadow Vice Prime Minister | subterm6 = 2005 | birth_name = Tomislav Lampel | birth_date = {{Birth date|1931|12|27|df=yes}} | birth_place = Novi Sad, Yugoslavia | death_date = {{death date and age|2008|06|01|1931|12|27|df=y}} | death_place = Tel Aviv, Israel | spouse = {{marriage|Shulamit Giladi|1959}} | children = 3, including Yair }} '''Joseph''' "'''Tommy'''" '''Lapid''' ({{langx|he|יוסף "טומי" לפיד}}; born '''Tomislav Lampel''' [<nowiki/>{{lang-sr-Cyrl|Томислав Лампел}}]; 27 December 1931 – 1 June 2008) was a Yugoslav-born Israeli radio and television presenter, playwright, journalist, politician and government minister known for his sharp tongue and acerbic wit.<ref name="IHT-obit">{{cite news |title=Joseph Lapid, journalist and ex-justice minister of Israel, dies at 77 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/01/world/africa/01iht-obits.4.13373050.html?_r=0 |newspaper=International Herald Tribune |date=1 June 2008 |access-date=9 January 2014}}</ref> Lapid headed the secular-liberal Shinui party from 1999 to 2006. He fiercely opposed the ultra-Orthodox political parties and actively sought to exclude any religious observance from the legal structure of the Israeli State.<ref>Schmidt, Shira. (3 June 2008) [http://www.cross-currents.com/archives/2008/06/03/tommy-lapid-dylan-thomas www.cross-currents.com website]. Cross-currents.com. Retrieved on 9 September 2011.</ref> He was the father of Yair Lapid, who served as the 14th Prime Minister of Israel in 2022.
== Biography == Lapid was born in Novi Sad, Kingdom of Yugoslavia (modern-day Serbia), to a family of Hungarian Jewish descent. His family was seized by the Nazis and deported to the Budapest Ghetto. His father, Dr. Béla (Meir) Lampel, a lawyer and Zionist leader, was deported to Mauthausen concentration camp, where he was murdered. His grandmother Hermina was murdered in Auschwitz.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lapid |first=Yair |url=https://multesjovo.hu/wp-content/uploads/aitfiles/1/0/10mj_2012_1_87_106_lapid_1.pdf |title=Síron túli emlékeim |pages=90 |language=hu |trans-title=My Memories from Beyond the Grave}}</ref> Lapid and his mother were rescued by Raoul Wallenberg in Budapest.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pressreader.com/israel/jerusalem-post/20160904/281908772583703|access-date=2021-03-19|title=Straight Talk|website=PressReader}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Baruch Tenembaum|title=Tommy Lapid|url=https://www.raoulwallenberg.net/highlights/tommy-lapid/|access-date=2021-03-19|website=The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation|language=en-US}}</ref> They survived the war and moved to Israel in 1948<ref name="IHT-obit"/> where he worked at the Hungarian-language Israeli paper ''Új Kelet'' with Rudolf Kasztner. After serving as a radio operator in the Israel Defense Forces between 1950 and 1953, Lapid graduated with a law degree from Tel Aviv University in 1957.<ref name="IHT-obit" /> He married Shulamit Giladi, an acclaimed novelist;<ref name=frommorn>[http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/israel-s-60th-anniversary-a-jew-from-morning-to-night-a-552281.html Israel's 60th Anniversary: 'A Jew from Morning to Night'], ''Der Spiegel'', 8 May 2008</ref> they had three children. Their son, Yair Lapid, is the chairman of the political party Yesh Atid, which became the second-biggest party in the 2013 Israeli elections, and was a columnist and television host. Yair became Prime Minister of Israel on 1 July 2022. Tommy and Shulamit's youngest daughter, Merav, is a clinical psychologist. Their elder daughter, Michal, was killed in a car accident in 1984.<ref name=frommorn/><ref>{{cite news|title=Who is Yair Lapid?|url=https://www.haaretz.com/2012-01-23/ty-article/.premium/yair-lapid-prom-king-politician/0000017f-eb14-d4cd-af7f-eb7c5fd60000|access-date=2021-03-19|website=Haaretz}}</ref>
== Media career == Lapid started out as a journalist for the Israeli Hungarian-language newspaper ''Új Kelet''.<ref name="Haaretz-obit">{{cite news |author=Asaf Carmel |date=1 June 2008 |url=https://www.haaretz.com/news/olmert-pays-tribute-to-yosef-lapid-calling-him-a-jew-through-and-through-1.246992 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110806024838/http://www.haaretz.com/news/olmert-pays-tribute-to-yosef-lapid-calling-him-a-jew-through-and-through-1.246992 |url-status=dead |archive-date=6 August 2011 |title=Olmert pays tribute to Yosef Lapid calling him a 'Jew through and through' |newspaper=Haaretz |access-date=8 January 2014}}</ref> Later, he was hired by the mainstream daily ''Maariv,'' where he became an influential publicist, and went on to become director-general of the Israel Broadcasting Authority and chairman of the Cable TV Union. He was also the founding editor of Israeli women's magazine ''At'', as well as a successful playwright.
In the 1990s Lapid was a regular guest on the political talk show ''Popolitika'' aired on Channel 1 which often turned into a shouting match; later on he moved to the Channel 2 talk show, ''Politika''.
In October 1994, on a Canada AM TV show interview with ex-Mossad agent Victor Ostrovsky, journalist Valerie Pringle spoke by phone with Lapid regarding recent inflammatory comments he had made on Popolitika regarding Ostrovsky and his latest book, "The Other Side of Deception." Lapid reiterated his earlier comments that he felt Ostrovsky was a traitor to Israel and hoped that "there will be a decent Jew in Canada who can assassinate him for us."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Atzmon|first=Gilad|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rTbtBAAAQBAJ&dq=valerie+pringle+Yosef+Lapid&pg=PT19|access-date=2023-11-22|title=The Wandering Who: A Study of Jewish Identity Politics|date=Sep 30, 2011|publisher=John Hunt Publishing|isbn=9781846948763 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wrmea.org/1995-january-february/the-contrasting-media-treatment-of-israeli-and-islamic-death-threats.html|title=The Contrasting Media Treatment of Israeli and Islamic Death Threats|date=January 1995|publisher=Washington Report on Middle East Affairs}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jta.org/archive/ex-mossad-agent-files-suit-claiming-on-air-death-plea|title=Ex-mossad Agent Files Suit, Claiming On-air Death Plea|date=February 12, 1995|publisher=Jewish Telegraphic Agency}}</ref>
Lapid was awarded the Sokolov Award, Israel's top award in journalism, in 1998, for his weekly radio show.<ref name="Haaretz-obit" />
== Political career == In the late 1990s, Lapid joined Avraham Poraz's Shinui party, which boosted the party's standing in the Israeli political scene. Lapid became party chairman and Shinui won six seats in the 1999 elections, with Lapid entering the Knesset for the first time. In the 2003 elections the party ran on a secularist platform and won 15 seats, making it the third-largest in the Knesset after Likud and Labour. Shinui was invited to join the government of Ariel Sharon and Lapid was appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice.<ref name="IHT-obit" />
It was suggested that Israel's pro-Serbian position in 1999, was a result of the Serbian population's history of saving Jews during the Holocaust, personal memories of which were still present among older Israeli politicians, such as Lapid, serving in government at the time.<ref name="haaretz.com">[https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2014-04-15/ty-article/.premium/russia-ukraine-israel-the-shoah/0000017f-e14e-d7b2-a77f-e34fc5bf0000 Russia or Ukraine? For some Israelis, Holocaust memories are key] Haaretz, By David Landau, 15 Apr. 2014</ref>
Between 2001 and 2006, Lapid, via a bill passed by the Knesset, established the commission of "Future Generations", headed by retired judge Shlomo Shoham, an office that was later closed down by a bill passed by then Knesset member and Chairman of the Knesset Committee, Yariv Levin, on the grounds that the commission was a "big malfunction" in which "a commissioner sits above us while we're the elected officials. Apparently, this commissioner was granted the 'prophecy' that he knows what is best for future generations." In a rebuttal, Shoham stated that "the Chairman of the Knesset Committee does not understand the essence of the position of "Commissioner of Future Generations" within the checks and balances of democracy."<ref name="the-marker-december-2010">{{cite web |last1=Zarchia |first1=Zvi |last2=Bassuk |first2=Moti |title=Why was the Commission for Future Generations abolished and what does this mean for the future of the country? |url=https://www.themarker.com/career/2010-12-01/ty-article/0000017f-dc53-db22-a17f-fcf3fa620000 |publisher=TheMarker |access-date=31 October 2023 |language=he |date=1 December 2010}}</ref>
The tension between Shinui and Likud grew when the ultra-Orthodox party Agudat Yisrael was brought into the coalition. Shinui could not implement many of its electoral promises, such as instituting civil marriage, and a dispute erupted over state aid to religious institutions. As a result, Shinui quit the coalition in December 2004. Lapid announced the formation of a Shadow Cabinet based on the British model on 3 January 2005, before being appointed Leader of the Opposition a week later. In late March 2005, Lapid voted in favor of the budget in exchange for minor concessions in order to keep the government from falling, which was liable to lead to early elections and impede the implementation of the disengagement plan.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20071001090427/http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=557041&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y "Lapid and Poraz assure Sharon of Shinui's support for budget"] ''Haaretz'', 27 March 2005</ref>
In Shinui's primary elections held shortly before the 2006 elections, Lapid retained the party leadership. However, his deputy Poraz lost second place on the list.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Report: Poraz refuses offer to rejoin Shinui after quitting |url=https://www.jpost.com/israel/report-poraz-refuses-offer-to-rejoin-shinui-after-quitting |access-date=2022-04-11 |website=The Jerusalem Post |date=12 January 2006 |language=en-US}}</ref> In the ensuing crisis, Poraz and several other Shinui MKs left the party and founded Hetz.{{citation needed|date=April 2010}} Lapid left Shinui two weeks after the vote and announced his support for Poraz's new party,<ref>{{Cite news |title=לאחר שבועיים של שתיקה - הודיע יו"ר שינוי טומי לפיד על פרישתו מהמפלגה |work=TheMarker |url=https://www.themarker.com/markets/1.352195 |access-date=2022-04-11}}</ref> but chose not to be involved in the new party's leadership, instead of serving as a figurehead. In the elections, he was allocated the symbolic 120th place on the Hetz list, but the party failed to win a seat. {{citation needed|date=April 2010}}
== Non-political activities == [[File:President George W. Bush pauses to pay respects in the Hall of Remembrance.jpg|thumb|Tommy Lapid (far-left) at Yad Vashem during George W. Bush's visit, 2008]]
In July 2006, Lapid was appointed Advisory Board Chairman of Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority, a role he called "a sacred duty".<ref name="IHT-obit" />
He appeared on ''Council of Wise Men'', an Israeli television program on Israel 10 channel. He hosted his own radio program on Reshet Bet. He also was a chairman of the Israel Chess Society and served as an honorary member of the Raoul Wallenberg Foundation. [[File:יוסף לפיד נתניה.jpg|thumb|Street sign named after Yosef Lapid in Netanya]]
== Death == Lapid was hospitalized at Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv in serious condition on 30 May 2008.<ref>[http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1212041436239&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull Former Shinui head Yosef Lapid taken to hospital in serious condition]{{dead link|date=November 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}; ''The Jerusalem Post'', 30 May 2008</ref> He died on 1 June 2008, aged 76, after a battle with cancer.<ref>[http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/126359 Former Shinui Party Chairman Yosef (Tommy) Lapid Dead at 77]; ''Israel National News'', 1 June 2008</ref>
== Other == In March 2011, street Nova 30 in Veternik, a suburb of Novi Sad, was renamed to ''ulica Tomija Josefa Lapida'' (Serbian for "Tommy Joseph Lapid Street").<ref>[http://www.novisad.rs/sh/content/otkrivena-tabla-sa-imenom-tomija-josefa-lapida Otkrivena Tabla Sa Imenom Tomija Josefa Lapida] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111007222424/http://www.novisad.rs/sh/content/otkrivena-tabla-sa-imenom-tomija-josefa-lapida |date=7 October 2011 }}. Novisad.rs (15 March 2011). Retrieved on 9 September 2011.</ref><ref>[http://www.openstreetmap.org/?minlon=19.7658939361572&minlat=45.2457389831543&maxlon=19.7664585113525&maxlat=45.2470932006836 OpenStreetMap]</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == *{{MKlink|id=217}} *[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/tommy-lapid-champion-of-secularism-in-israel-839561.html Tommy Lapid: Champion of secularism in Israel] on The Independent
{{Yad Vashem}} {{Israeli Ministers of Justice}} {{Opposition leaders (Israel)}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lapid, Tommy}} Category:1931 births Category:2008 deaths Category:20th-century Israeli journalists Category:Burials at Kiryat Shaul Cemetery Category:Chess officials Category:Deaths from cancer in Israel Category:Hetz (political party) politicians Category:Jewish Israeli atheists Category:Israeli atheists Category:Israeli columnists Category:Israeli opinion journalists Category:Israeli sports executives and administrators Category:Israeli television presenters Category:Jewish Israeli politicians Category:Leaders of the opposition (Israel) Category:Maariv (newspaper) people Category:Members of the 15th Knesset (1999–2003) Category:Members of the 16th Knesset (2003–2006) Category:Ministers of justice of Israel Category:21st-century Serbian Jews Category:Shinui leaders Category:Tel Aviv University alumni Category:Yad Vashem people Category:Yugoslav emigrants to Israel Category:Israeli Ashkenazi Jews Category:20th-century Serbian Jews Category:Sokolov Award recipients