Editing Tommy Lapid (section)

== Political career ==
In the late 1990s, Lapid joined [[Avraham Poraz]]'s Shinui party, which boosted the party's standing in the Israeli political scene. Lapid became party chairman and Shinui won six seats in the [[1999 Israeli legislative election|1999 elections]], with Lapid entering the Knesset for the first time. In the [[2003 Israeli legislative election|2003 elections]] the party ran on a secularist platform and won 15 seats, making it the third-largest in the Knesset after [[Likud]] and [[Labor Party (Israel)|Labour]]. Shinui was invited to join the government of [[Ariel Sharon]] and Lapid was appointed [[Deputy leaders of Israel#Deputy Prime Minister|Deputy Prime Minister]] and [[Justice Minister of Israel|Minister of Justice]].<ref name="IHT-obit" />

It was suggested that Israel's pro-Serbian position in 1999, was a result of the Serbian population's history of saving Jews during the [[The Holocaust in Serbia|Holocaust]], personal memories of which were still present among older Israeli politicians, such as Lapid, serving in government at the time.<ref name="haaretz.com">[http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.585494 Russia or Ukraine? For some Israelis, Holocaust memories are key] Haaretz, By David Landau, 15 Apr. 2014</ref>

Between 2001 and 2006, Lapid, via a bill passed by the Knesset, established the commission of "Future Generations", headed by retired judge [[Shlomo Shoham]], an office that was later closed down by a bill passed by then Knesset member and Chairman of the Knesset Committee, [[Yariv Levin]], on the grounds that the commission was a "big malfunction" in which "a commissioner sits above us while we're the elected officials. Apparently, this commissioner was granted the 'prophecy' that he knows what is best for future generations." In a rebuttal, Shoham stated that "the Chairman of the Knesset Committee does not understand the essence of the position of "Commissioner of Future Generations" within the checks and balances of democracy."<ref name="the-marker-december-2010">{{cite web |last1=Zarchia |first1=Zvi |last2=Bassuk |first2=Moti |title=Why was the Commission for Future Generations abolished and what does this mean for the future of the country? |url=https://www.themarker.com/career/2010-12-01/ty-article/0000017f-dc53-db22-a17f-fcf3fa620000 |publisher=[[TheMarker]] |access-date=31 October 2023 |language=he |date=1 December 2010}}</ref>

The tension between Shinui and Likud grew when the ultra-Orthodox party [[Agudat Yisrael]] was brought into the coalition. Shinui could not implement many of its electoral promises, such as [[Civil marriage in Israel|instituting civil marriage]], and a dispute erupted over state aid to religious institutions. As a result, Shinui quit the coalition in December 2004. Lapid announced the formation of a [[Shadow Cabinet of Tommy Lapid|Shadow Cabinet]] based on the British model on 3 January 2005, before being appointed [[Leader of the Opposition (Israel)|Leader of the Opposition]] a week later. In late March 2005, Lapid voted in favor of the budget in exchange for minor concessions in order to keep the government from falling, which was liable to lead to early elections and impede the implementation of the [[Israel's unilateral disengagement plan|disengagement plan]].<ref>[http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=557041&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y "Lapid and Poraz assure Sharon of Shinui's support for budget"] ''[[Haaretz]]'', 27 March 2005</ref>

In Shinui's primary elections held shortly before the [[2006 Israeli legislative election|2006 elections]], Lapid retained the party leadership. However, his deputy Poraz lost second place on the list.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Report: Poraz refuses offer to rejoin Shinui after quitting |url=https://www.jpost.com/israel/report-poraz-refuses-offer-to-rejoin-shinui-after-quitting |access-date=2022-04-11 |website=The Jerusalem Post  |language=en-US}}</ref> In the ensuing crisis, Poraz and several other Shinui MKs left the party and founded [[Hetz (political party)|Hetz]].{{citation needed|date=April 2010}} Lapid left Shinui two weeks after the vote and announced his support for Poraz's new party,<ref>{{Cite news |title=לאחר שבועיים של שתיקה - הודיע יו"ר שינוי טומי לפיד על פרישתו מהמפלגה |work=TheMarker |url=https://www.themarker.com/markets/1.352195 |access-date=2022-04-11}}</ref> but chose not to be involved in the new party's leadership, instead of serving as a figurehead. In the elections, he was allocated the symbolic 120th place on the Hetz list, but the party failed to win a seat. {{citation needed|date=April 2010}}