By Joel Leyden
Israel News Agency

Jerusalem ----- June 4, 2008 ....... It is not easy to write about the death of a man. Particularly one who made a vast, dramatic difference in Israel.

News of Tommy Lapid death at age 77 was a shock. Not just to me but to millions of ordinary Israelis. I spotted his death announcement the morning after and have been saddened since. It has taken this long for me to actually sit down at a keyword to write about this brave soul.

Lapid enjoyed a challenge and won many political battles. He survived the holocaust, he survived dozens of death threats as he fought for democratic rights over extreme religious hate. But his fight with cancer would silence him. Tommy, as his friends would call him, died early Sunday morning. He had been hospitalized six months ago after suffering a heart attack in his home.

Journalist Amnon Dankner, a close friend of Lapid's, said: "His mouth and heart were alike, and he was as loyal to himself as he was loyal to his family and to the people he loved. He was also not a man who was hated by his opponents."

Dankner added: "He had a huge appetite for life. He was a very educated man with a very broad understanding. A man who renewed himself every day. He will leave a huge void in my heart, which never be filled."

Lapid was "a Holocaust survivor who lived and breathed Jewish fate, Jewish history and the Jewish future throughout his life," Israel Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said.

"We have lost a dear man, a dear Jew and an irreplaceable friend," Olmert said with tears falling from his eyes.

The Israel Prime Minister met Lapid for the last time on Tuesday when he visited him at Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv.

Olmert, who described Lapid as "my closest friend, my most-loved friend for dozens of years" sat by Lapid's bedside for over two hours. During that time, the two spoke very little as Lapid passed in and out of consciousness.

On Thursday, Lapid phoned Olmert's office, after which the Olmert returned the call at 8 P.M., and the two spoke to each other for the last time.

Lapid headed the secularist Shinui Political Party, which encouraged Israelis to join and support a strong Israel Defense Forces while seeking to limit the growing political power of what he saw as a dangerous theocracy, the power of ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties which differed little from Hamas or Islamic Jihad in their approach to democracy and basic humanitarian freedoms.

Lapid was critical of haredim's low participation in the labor market, which produces a higher welfare burden for those who work, their rejection of Zionist values, and shirking of mandatory military service.

"I do not hate the ultra-Orthodox, I am angry with them," Lapid said. The issue, he said, was not about religion, but that its followers believe it gives them a special status.

"They do not accept the rules of the game - equal work, equal pay and equal duties. They said, 'No, we have a special status in which we do not work and we do not pay taxes and we do not defend the country; you defend it for us," said Lapid.

Lapid led the Shinui party to a surprise victory in the 2003 elections, gathering 15 seats in the 120-seat Knesset. This secured him the post of Israel justice minister under Israel Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

During the 16th Knesset, he served as justice minister and deputy prime minister.

Shinui (Hebrew for "Change") was formed in 1974, a few months after the Yom Kippur War, as one of the protest movements. Its original name was "Shinui - The political and social revival movement." As it was formed, Shinui decided to run for the Knesset.

In 1976, the late professor Yigael Yadin, who was IDF's second chief of staff, formed a political party which was destined to run for the Knesset - "The Democratic Movement." Shinui and The Democratic Movement began negotiation to form a united party, and indeed in the beginning of 1977 it was born as "Dash - The Democratic Movement For Change." After Dash was formed, a group from "Hamrkaz Hahofshi" ("The Free Center"), led by the late MK Shmuel Tamir, and a group from the Israeli Labor Party, led by Meir Amit, joined it.

About a year after it was formed, Dash split into two parties - Shinui, and The Democratic Party.

In the 1981 general elections, Shinui got two seats - MK Amnon Rubinstein and MK Mordechai Virshuvski.

In the 1984 general elections, Shinui got three seats, this time Rubinstein and Virshuvski were joined by MK Zeidan Atshi. After the elections, Shinui joined the national unity government led by Shimon Peres, and Amnon Rubinstein became Minister of Communication. In the beginning of 1987 Shinui left the government as a reaction to Yitzhak Shamir opposing "The London Agreement."

The 1988 general elections saw Shinui joining the "Independent Liberals" (Lamed Ayin) and the "Liberal Center" (Hamerkaz Haliberali), getting two seats - MK Amnon Rubinstein and MK Avraham Poraz.

In the 1992 general elections, Shinui joined Ratz and Mapam.

In the 1996 general elections Shinui ran once again with Meretz and Rubinstein and Poraz were elected again.

In the beginning of 1997, Ratz and Mapam decided to unite Meretz into one political party. In the 1999 election, Shinui increased its representation in the Knesset from one seat to six. The party attributed its success to the fact that it was the first party ever to refuse to join a government that included the ultra-Orthodox parties.

In the 2003 election, Shinui showed surprising strength, and catapulted to the third largest faction in the Knesset with 15 seats.

Shinui is currently the only active liberal political party in Israel, and finds its ideological position at the center of the political map. Its basic principals are supporting the peace process between Israel and its Arab neighbors, including the Oslo agreements with the Palestinians. Supporting a free market economy based on liberal principals. Israel should be democratic state which offers its citizens freedom and equality.

Shinui differs from Meretz and the Labor Party mainly in its social and economical approach - liberal economy, as opposed to socialism and centralist economy.

The platform of Shinui stated: "We believe in freedom of religion, and we strongly oppose religious coercion. We fight against the national scandal of the exemption of orthodox youth from army service. We do not alienate religion, and we see all currents in Judaism as equal. We believe in mutual understanding and respect as basis to a healthy society."

According to Rabbi Israel Meir Lau, Lapid never attacked religion.

"The Ex-Shinui chairman stressed that he opposed religious coercion, not Judaism," said Lau.

"My familiarity with Yosef (Tommy) Lapid spans over a period of 30 years at least, and ended at the oncological department of Tel Aviv’s Sourasky Medical Center. I sat with him for about an hour. He was very alert, as usual, even though I knew his disease was terminal. I’m certain he too knew this was a farewell conversation."

"Exactly 30 years ago, in 1978, I got a call from Tommy, who invited me for an hour-long interview on a show he hosted for Army Radio. For a whole hour we sat in the studio, with Tommy explaining to the young listeners the great importance of familiarity with Jewish matters and the customs we grew up on, as expressed in the new book I wrote. He heard or saw the book, and the initiative to have me on the show was his, rather than some kind of PR man on my behalf. Tommy dedicated a whole hour to this, without any negative criticism."

Lau added: "With regards to his attitude to religion and to the religious, it appears he underwent some kind of change. During the dozens of years where he wrote opinion pieces, and during his three years as an author in London, I never heard him issue even one attack in a religious matter. He used to belong to what we referred to as the “Hungarian mafia,” along side Ephraim Kishon and Kariel Gardosh. The three of them did not receive religious education, but their attitude to the religious and especially to religious Zionists was very sympathetic, and certainly lacking any belligerent tone."

Lapid, known for his sharp tongue, acerbic pen and dry wit, was born Tomislav Lampel in Benovitz, Serbia. He later exited politics to become chairman of the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial council in Jerusalem, Israel.

During the World War 2, his father was taken to a concentration camp and was murdered two weeks before liberation. Lapid and his mother were placed with a group of Jews in Budapest whom the Nazis planned on killing along the banks of the river Danube. He was saved at the last minute, however, after his mother hid him and herself inside a toilet.

"As I've said, there I became a Zionist," Lapid told Haaretz in a 1995 interview, "because there I understood that there is not enough space in the whole world for a 13-year-old Jewish boy - so there must be one place for us. In Israel."

Three years after being freed from the Nazis, Lapid immigrated to Israel with his mother at the age of 17.

Upon arrival in Israel, he was drafted into the Israel Defense Forces, where he served as a mechanic. Later on, he studied law at Tel Aviv University, and began to write for the Hungarian-language newspaper Uj Kelet, under the tutelage of author and satirist Ephraim Kishon.

Kishon arranged for Lapid to meet with and work for the founding editor of the Hebrew daily newspaper Maariv. Azriel Carlebach employed Lapid as his personal assistant. It was Carlebach who suggested Lapid Hebraicize his name from Lampel.

Lapid, quickly became one of the most respected journalists in Israel and soon served as part of the editorial staff at Ma'ariv, as financial director of the Israel Broadcasting Authorities. He gained further notoriety as a member of the Israel television program Popolitica, and as chairman of the cable television union. He was awarded the Sokolov Prize in 1998.

Lapid, who spoke Hebrew, English, German, Hungarian, Serbo-Croatian, was first elected to the Knesset in the 1999 elections, in which his party gained six mandates. In the 16th Knesset, after the 2003 elections, Shinui reached the peak of its strength, receiving fifteen mandates. In the government subsequently formed, Lapid served under Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as justice minister and deputy prime minister.

Shinui pulled out of the government in December 2004 in protest against a decision to transfer hundreds of millions of shekels to the ultra-Orthodox sector. Lapid was then appointed opposition leader. The condition of his party, though, deteriorated from this point on until its final collapse, evidenced the 2006 elections in which it did not gain any Knesset seats.

Even Lapid's many adversaries had kind words for him. "He was a man whose mouth and soul were on equal ground," Aryeh Deri, a former leader of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, told Army Radio. "You knew that what he had to say to you he would say to your face."

Chairman of the Yad Vashem Directorate Avner Shalev said: “Memory of the Holocaust was a basic part of Tommy’s identity. As a Holocaust survivor he shared his experiences with the public, including senior visitors and international leaders. With great courage he related to them the legacy of the Holocaust, and how it is relevant to them today.”

Thousands turned out for the funeral of Lapid. Israel Prime Minister Ehud Olmert gave a eulogy at the funeral, held in a Tel Aviv cemetery, saying "he was my loyal friend through the years."

"In times of crisis and storm, [Lapid] was like a fortress wall," Olmert said.

During the ceremony, Lapid's favorite songs were played, such as Frank Sinatra's "My Way."
Eulogies were given by his daughter Meirav, his son Yair and his grandson Yoav.

Lapid is survived by his wife, the writer Shulamit Lapid, his daughter Meirav and his son Yair, the popular Israel TV Channel 2 News presenter and Yedioth Ahronot newspaper columnist. Lapid's oldest daughter Michal died in a road accident in 1984.

Lapid's infectious, boyish smile, his sharp, honest wit and practical sense of compromise and reality will be missed by all those who continue to press for a free and democractic society in Israel.

Tommy you may be gone. You are not forgotten.

 

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