In the Feb. 20 season opener of “Eretz Nehederet,” Israel’s most popular satirical television program, the actor playing Yesh Atid Chairman Yair Lapid interrupts a political panel in the studio and asks, “What about me? You don’t have a character for me?” The host, Eyal Kitzis, responds that that is indeed the case, because Lapid hasn’t said anything significant in the past six months. Ouch.

Lapid, if one is to believe his advisers, laughed at the joke at his expense. Perhaps uncoincidentally, four days later Lapid interrupted his six-month drought of interviews to appear on “Ulpan Shishi,” the weekly news program on Channel 2. Lapid, whom polls predict to win the next election, has made rare and measured appearances in the media in recent months as part of his strategy to avoid making unforced errors and preserve the status quo. The price of such conduct, however, is the image of someone trying to curry favor among the general public at the expense of clear policies and meaningful positions.

Lapid has shunned statements or acts that could identify him with the left-wing camp as if it were an incurable disease while also trying to entice voters from the right-wing bloc, though so far without much success. Thus, he has naturally adopted the role of a stately official.

While Zionist Camp leader Isaac Herzog issued a harsh response following the Feb. 28 release of the state comptroller’s report on the 2014 Gaza war and called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hand in the keys, Lapid, who served on the Security Cabinet during the conflict, showed restraint in his response.