Yair Lapid

Yair Lapid is the Prime Minister of the State of Israel and Minister of Foreign Affairs in Israel's 36th government. He is also the chairperson of the Yesh Atid (There is a Future) Party.
 
Prime Minister Lapid was born in Tel Aviv in 1963. He is married to Lihi and the father of Yoav, Lior and Yael.
 
He is the son of the late Yosef (Tommy) Lapid, a Holocaust survivor who immigrated to Israel, and who later became a prominent journalist, the CEO of the Israel Broadcasting Authority, a member of Knesset, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice; and of Shulamit Lapid, an acclaimed novelist, playwright and former chair of the Hebrew Writers Association in Israel.
 
Before entering politics, Lapid was a best-selling author, journalist, TV presenter, playwright, actor and musician. He published 12 best-selling books, the most notable of which is Memories After My Death, written about his late father. He wrote a weekly newspaper column, which was the most widely read column in Israel, and presented several TV programs that won numerous awards. He also anchored the highest-rated news show on Israeli TV. In addition, Lapid has written hit songs, which reached the top of the Israeli music charts.
 
Lapid was also active in many social organizations, including: Aleh — the Association for Assistance to People with Special Needs; the Association for Children at Risk for children with autism and the Youth Renewal Fund for young people with disabilities. He also taught citizenship at a school in Jaffa.
 
In 2012, Lapid announced his entry into politics and founded the Yesh Atid party, which he still heads. Yesh Atid is a centrist, Zionist, liberal party. The party's ideological goals include fighting corruption and cleaning up Israel's political system, striking a balance between the Jewish and democratic values of the country and fighting for the rights of women, the LGBTQ+ community and other minority groups.
 
In the 2013 general election, Yesh Atid surprised everyone by receiving over half a million votes and becoming the second-largest party in the Knesset, with 19 seats. Lapid served as the Minister of Finance and was a member of the Security Cabinet during Israel’s conflict with Gaza in 2014, Operation Protective Edge.
 
On May 5, 2021, Lapid was entrusted with the mandate to form a new government and on June 2, 2021, Lapid informed President Reuven Rivlin that he had successfully formed a government coalition. On June 13, 2021, the new government was sworn in and Lapid became Minister of Foreign Affairs and Alternate Prime Minister.
 
Lapid believes in bolstering Israel's security, striving for regional stability and extending Israel’s hand in peace to its neighbors. As Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lapid founded and hosted the first Negev Summit, with the participation of foreign ministers from the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Egypt, together with the United States Secretary of State. The historic summit was held in Sde Boker in March 2022, and is planned to become an annual event. Lapid also founded the I2U2, a summit between Israel, the United States, India and the UAE focused on bolstering cooperation between the countries. 

As Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lapid also inaugurated Israel's embassy in Abu Dhabi in what was the first official visit to the country by a member of the Israeli government. He also inaugurated Israel's diplomatic mission in Rabat and inaugurated the Israeli embassy in Manama. 
 
On June 20, 2022, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett announced that he would call for a vote to dissolve the Knesset and step down as Prime Minister shortly thereafter, at which time Yair Lapid would become Prime Minister.
 
Lapid has been included in TIME magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the world and Foreign Policy's 100 Leading Global Thinkers.