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Lapid, Here's the Money!

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Yair Lapid, the big success story of Israel's recent elections, announced his venture into politics a year before the elections on Facebook. He wrote an essay asserting that any discussion on Israel's future must start with these words: "Where is the Money?" The question became his campaign slogan, and now follows him into his current position as Israel's Minister of Finance.

This new video by Israel's Peace Now movement, Shalom Achshav, reminds Lapid that before he got hold of the Israeli government's purse strings, he offered not only a question but also some answers. One such answer was the outrageously disproportionate share of the Israeli budget that goes to West Bank settlements.

Would Lapid act on his pre-election bewilderment at the 38% increase in spending on settlements in the four years the preceded his becoming Benjamin Netanyahu's Minister of Finance? Only if he feels the heat coming from Israelis - and from their friends overseas - who care about Israel's future as a democracy that lives in peace with its neighbors.