Yesh Atid

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Chairman: Yair Lapid

 

Yesh Atid ("There is a future") is a centrist, secular-liberal political party founded by former journalist Yair Lapid in January 2012.

 

Lapid, a popular journalist and anchorman and son of the late Shinui Chairman Yosef (Tommy) Lapid, said he was forming the party to "truly represent the center of Israeli society," i.e. – the secular middle class.

 

Lapid formed the party with the intention of promoting the equal distribution of the social burden in Israel – an issue which sparked a massive social protest in the summer of 2011.

 

Yesh Atid HQ on election night (Photo: Reuters)

 

The party platform calls for an across-the-board change in Israel's national priorities, underscoring civil life: Education, housing, health, transportation and policing, as well as improving the condition of the middle class and changing the system of government.

 

Yesh Atid does not hold primaries, as its charter gives Lapid, for the time being, sole discretion over the party's makeup, much like in Yisrael Beiteinu Chairman Avigdor Lieberman's case.

 

Main platform:

• The party calls for equality in education and the military draft and demands that all Israeli schools teach core studies. "All Israeli citizens will be encouraged to seek work, including the ultra-Orthodox sector and the Arab sector," it stated.

 

• The party has vowed to fight political corruption, "Including corruption in government in the form of institutions like 'minister without portfolio'" and ensuring the cabinet is kept to 18-20 ministers at the most.

 

• Creating economical growth engines as a way of fighting poverty, improving the transportation system, reducing the cost of living and housing costs, and improving social mobility through assistance to small businesses.

 

• Instating a broad reform of the education system, including a change in the matriculation system.

 

• Promoting the Israeli-Palestinian peace process according to the outline of the two-state solution, while maintaining the large Israeli settlement blocs and ensuring the safety of Israel.

 

Running for election in 2013, Yesh Atid emerged as the second-general party in the Knesset, winning 19 seats.