http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Into-the-fray-What-an-idiot-328445
Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid is the most dangerous man in Israeli politics today, a good-looking, charismatic, overconfident fool, an affable ignoramus with no intellectual gravitas, devoid of moral principle, but with the gift of a silver tongue and the unmistakable – and largely undisguised – penchant for demagoguery and dictatorship.
I am saying what we need to do is something – Yair Lapid – in The New York Times, on the Palestinian issue.
Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid is the most dangerous man in Israeli politics today, a good-looking, charismatic, overconfident fool, an affable ignoramus with no intellectual gravitas, devoid of moral principle, but with the gift of a silver tongue and the unmistakable – and largely undisguised – penchant for demagoguery and dictatorship.
This is not the topic I had planned to write on this week. I had something entirely different in mind. But Lapid’s two infuriatingly smug interviews with Charlie Rose earlier this week made a change of priorities imperative.
Uninformed know-all
The spectacle of someone, without any background in military matters; who admits to having no understanding of economics; with no knowledge of international affairs and certainly no experience in their conduct; whose scholastic achievements do not even include high school matriculation, pontificating to all and sundry on how the affairs of the nation should be run, is so galling that it cannot be left without riposte.
It is even more vexing since Lapid has conceded that he has been forced to discard many of his preconceived opinions he held prior to entering politics, once he encountered the realities after entering them, confessing earlier this year to The New York Times: “I used to have so many opinions before I learned the facts.”
Yet judging from the Rose interview, this has left him unchastened. His brashness undiminished, he continues issuing – with commendable self-assuredness – proclamations that were either meaningless, self-contradictory or unfounded.
Indeed, Lapid has the telegenic presence and charm to make utter nonsense sound almost intelligent, the wildly implausible, almost reasonable – unless you listen to what he has to say.
As one of the creators of the Lapidometer, a satirical website that parodies Lapid’s pronounced penchant for the use of social media, commented: “We noticed that the Yesh Atid party spends a lot of time on Facebook instead of engaging in parliamentary activities [but], their posts don’t say anything. They’re full of beautiful text and very little substance. A bit like Yair Lapid.”
