Israeli Minister Lapid Hears 'New Music' in Iran
In a recent CNN interview, Israeli Minister Yair Lapid seems to distance himself somewhat from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Iran.
![Yair Lapid, leader of the Yesh Atid party, pauses while addressing supporters in Tel Aviv Yair Lapid, leader of the Yesh Atid (There's a Future) party, pauses while addressing supporters at his party's headquarters in Tel Aviv January 23, 2013. Lapid, a former television news anchor whose new centrist party stormed to second place in Israel's election, may well be the kingmaker holding the keys to the next coalition government. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS PROFILE HEADSHOT) - RTR3CU5L](/sites/default/files/styles/article_hero_medium/public/almpics/2013/09/YairLapid.jpg/YairLapid.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=jdgYups2)
Several hours after the Cabinet meeting on Sept. 15, at which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu laid out the four conditions which the international community must set before it lifts the sanctions and eases the international pressure on Iran, his finance minister, Yair Lapid, gave a rare interview on diplomatic issues to CNN’s Christiane Amanpour.
In contrast to Netanyahu’s hard-line approach, which regards the overtures of peace from Tehran as an illusion at best or a clever Iranian deception tactic at worst, Lapid’s tone was different: “I’m happy to listen to any new music coming from Iran, but this has to be backed by not only words, but also by deeds.”