Of the five policy speeches delivered at the Herzliya Conference on June 8, the speech given by Chairman of the Yesh Atid Party Yair Lapid was the most interesting and groundbreaking, and the most important. Not only did it include the red lines, which, if crossed, would entail quitting the government; more importantly, the finance minister’s message indicated for the first time that he had finally given up his plans to one day become prime minister with the support of the “soft right.” Instead, he was meticulous about addressing his own electorate, which is planted deep in the center-left and worth at least 30 seats out of the Knesset's 120.

Lapid presented a three-stage plan to separate from the Palestinians, wishing to renounce economic responsibility for the isolated settlements. This was certainly not the same Lapid who launched his political route as part of the diplomatic right wing. This change should not be taken lightly, either. Right now, Lapid is really the person in control of the Netanyahu government. With his 19 seats, he could topple it single-handedly, and in fact, he is using the power of those seats now, for the first time, in the diplomatic arena. By doing so, he has effectively set up an hourglass to determine how much longer this government will last.

The reasons that Lapid finally made his decision to abandon his plans to increase his political clout by appealing to the right, were a series of polls that flew right in his face. They showed that his electorate had grown disappointed with him, not only because he had shown no interest in diplomatic issues, but also because he had expressed hawkish views. This has long been a problematic strategy on his part, since Lapid had to attribute his position as head of the second-largest party in the Knesset to the seats he received from the center-left.

“We are facing an unprecedented crisis in our relationship with the United States. It is a crisis that results from our problematic and often disdainful behavior,” he said, attacking Netanyahu’s policies, before calling on us to take our fate into our own hands, and sketch out what the country’s borders should be.