Yair Lapid caused a stir when he said he wanted to make peace with Palestinians based on the “two-state solution”. But he will have immense difficulty turning his words into actions
. His speech signals that the pro-peace camp in Israeli politics is not dead. It also reminds Israelis that they cannot forever ignore their country’s military occupation in the West Bank and the blockade it and Egypt impose on Gaza. So long as Palestinians are oppressed, Israel will be unsafe.
On this second point, he may be right. In his speech Mr Lapid claimed that a large majority of Israelis supported his aims. But recent polling suggests they do not. In a survey carried out by Tel Aviv University in July, only 40% of Israelis supported a two-state solution, while 50% were against it.