Has Israel's secular majority been abandoned by politicians?
While Israel argues over train maintenance on the Sabbath, Yesh Atid head Yair Lapid is not leading the battle against religious coercion but avoiding clashes with the ultra-Orthodox for his personal political interests.
No one in the political system meant for it to happen, yet a new Sabbath crisis erupted in the last two weeks over maintenance and repair work on Israel Railways. At the time of this writing, the crisis had ended with an ultra-Orthodox victory as Saturday work was canceled and with the Supreme Court criticizing Netanyahu for reinstating part of the work, which he was unauthorized to do.
In the transportation chaos that disrupted the country, with train service halted until maintenance work is finished, the voice of Yesh Atid Chairman Yair Lapid was resoundingly silent. Until recently, Lapid had been the representative of the secular community, but this time left the secular public without an effective leader to fight for them.
True, it was Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who capitulated to ultra-Orthodox demands and gave the order to postpone the maintenance work from the Sabbath itself to Saturday night. But Lapid also folded, turning his ideological banner into a white flag of surrender.
On Sept. 6, Lapid's gamble paid off: A Channel 2 survey indicated that Yesh Atid, headed by Lapid, currently has the most support.
