Lapid Unmasked: It Was Never About the Hostages

Opposition leader Yair Lapid has one great advantage: he says exactly what he thinks. Unfortunately, his main disadvantage is also that he doesn’t think…

And so, on Saturday night — riling up his followers in Tel Aviv’s Habima Square — Lapid openly admitted what used to require a bit of political analysis to understand. In calling for a tax rebellion and for tearing down the rules of the game in his fight against the government, Lapid inadvertently exposed the true motives of those who cry out hoarsely, "A hostage deal at any cost!"

He revealed, for all to see, that their goal is not the redemption of captives, nor a deep love for the people of Israel — but rather a clear ideological agenda, consistent with the political patterns we’ve seen from them in recent years.

Let’s look at his words:

Well then — the mask has come off. The aggressive campaign waged by the so-called “enlightened public,” aimed at preventing the government from lawfully dismissing the head of the Shin Bet, has nothing to do with democracy, and even less with the rule of law. Just like the delusional push for a dangerous hostage deal — even after we’ve seen the catastrophic results of the Shalit deal — has nothing to do with redeeming captives, nor with compassion or love for humanity.

They want a deal at any cost, even if only some of the hostages return — even if that means condemning the rest to remain behind. Why? So they can prevent the decisive military victory that terrifies them — and after that, they’ll demand yet another reckless deal at an even higher cost (if there’s anything left to pay with). At this rate, perhaps they'll even raise a Hamas flag over the Knesset — who knows?

One thing is certain: Hamas understands who it’s dealing with. That’s why they always hold onto bargaining chips. And these so-called “barn-burners” on the Israeli left know this as well. But they simply don’t care — because, as Yair Lapid revealed last night, it’s all part of what they call “defending democracy.”

In truth, it’s nothing more than a desperate struggle to preserve the rule of the old elites — those same elites the people of Israel have long since rejected.

For those who hadn’t yet realized: Yair Lapid just laid it bare. There is a full-blown operation being run by a leftist-progressive agenda, by the same people who mourned Donald Trump’s victory in America, and now live in fear that Netanyahu might adopt even a fraction of Trump’s populist style and start leading here as well in the name of the people.

They’re not afraid of dictatorship. They’re afraid of democracy. (As a side note: we, as believing Jews committed to the Torah of Moses, are not fans of democracy per se. But in the current situation, it is certainly preferable to a dictatorship run by these elites.)

They fear the will of the people. They fear victory in Gaza. Because true victory would force Israeli society to reconnect with its Jewish identity — and that, more than anything, is what terrifies them.

That is the hidden link between the push for a surrender deal and the fight against judicial reform.

And for the naïve among us — those who still believed this was about compassion or the sanctity of redeeming captives — Yair Lapid just cleared the fog. He put it all on the table.

Thank you, Yair. Keep saying what you think. Thank you, Yair (or rather, Yahir) — you're doing us a great service.

– Rabbi Yehuda Epstein, Chairman of Kedushat Tzion Association: The Union of Haredim for the Demand of Zion in the Spirit of Holiness