Yesh Atid facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Yesh Atid
יש עתיד
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| Leader | Yair Lapid |
| Founded | 29 April 2012 |
| Headquarters | Tel Aviv |
| Ideology |
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| Political position | Centre |
| National affiliation | Blue & White (2019–2020) |
| International affiliation | Liberal International |
| Colours | Blue Orange |
| Slogan | באנו לשנות ('We are here to change') |
| Knesset |
23 / 120
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| Election symbol | |
| פה فه |
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^ A: The party has also been evaluated as centre-left and centre-right. |
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Yesh Atid (which means "There Is a Future" in Hebrew) is a political party in Israel. It was started in 2012 by Yair Lapid, who used to be a TV journalist. His father, Tommy Lapid, was also a politician.
In 2013, Yesh Atid took part in its first election. It came in second place, winning 19 seats in the Knesset, which is Israel's parliament. After this, the party joined a government led by the Likud party. In the 2015 election, Yesh Atid did not support Likud. The party lost some seats and became part of the opposition, meaning they were not in the government.
In 2019, Yesh Atid joined with another party to form a group called Blue and White. This group ran in the April 2019 election. Later, in March 2020, Yesh Atid left this group and formed its own team in the Knesset. Yesh Atid ran alone in the 2021 election and won 17 seats. This made them the second-largest party in the Knesset. Yair Lapid, the leader of Yesh Atid, even served as Prime Minister in 2022.
In the 2022 elections, Yesh Atid won 24 seats, which was their best result ever. However, they were not able to form a government. The Likud party, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, formed the government instead, and Yesh Atid went back to being in the opposition.
Contents
How Yesh Atid Started
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Around 2010, people in Israel started talking about whether journalist Yair Lapid would leave his job in TV news to become a politician. At first, Lapid said these rumors were not true.
He gained a lot of support through social media, especially on his Facebook page. Lapid announced that he would not join certain existing parties. He also said he wanted to change the government system, make sure all Israelis served in the army, and improve the school system. In January 2012, Lapid officially announced that he was leaving journalism to start a new political party.
In April 2012, it was reported that his new party would be called "Atid." Lapid said that his party would not include any current members of parliament. On April 29, he officially registered his party as "Yesh Atid." On May 1, the party held its first meeting. Lapid shared his plan, which included military service for all Israelis. The party rules stated that Lapid would choose the candidates for the Knesset and would be the party's leader for many years.
Lapid has said his party is different from his late father's party, Shinui, partly because it includes people from different backgrounds, including religious figures.
Yesh Atid aimed to appeal to middle and upper-middle-class voters. They promised to fight against old ways of doing things and called for cleaner politics. People who vote for Yesh Atid often have higher incomes and more education. They tend to have balanced views on money matters and security issues.
Yesh Atid in the Knesset
In the election held on January 22, 2013, Yesh Atid won the second-highest number of seats in the Knesset, with 19 seats. The party was very popular in wealthier cities like Tel Aviv and Herzliya. Yesh Atid's success was a big surprise because polls before the election had predicted they would only win 8-11 seats. After the election, Yesh Atid joined the government led by Prime Minister Netanyahu. Even though Lapid focused on social and economic issues, he also spoke about foreign policy and said he would only be part of a government that was serious about working for peace.
Lapid supported Netanyahu for prime minister after the election. On March 15, 2013, Yesh Atid signed an agreement to join the government with the Likud party.
About a year after the election, a survey showed that the party's popularity was decreasing. If an election had been held then, Yesh Atid would have only won 10 seats instead of 19. Many people surveyed said they were disappointed with Lapid's work as Finance Minister. This job came with tough choices, like cutting spending and raising taxes, which affected his popularity.
Before the 2015 Election
Before the 2015 election, Lapid tried to form alliances with other parties, but these efforts were not successful. On February 8, 2015, a Yesh Atid member of parliament said the party would prefer to join a government led by Isaac Herzog and Tzipi Livni rather than one led by Netanyahu.
During the election campaign, Lapid mostly criticized Netanyahu and his Likud party. His campaign continued to focus on the economy rather than national security. However, he also started to speak more about the peace process. The party focused on the needs of the middle class.
After the 2015 Election
Yesh Atid won 11 seats in the 20th Knesset, making it the fourth-largest group. However, its popularity grew throughout 2017 and early 2018, and it became as popular as Likud in some polls.
From 2021 Onwards
In the 2021 Israeli election, Yesh Atid ran alone and became the second-largest party in the Knesset with 17 seats. They received many votes in cities across Israel, including Tel Aviv.
In May 2021, it was reported that Lapid and Yamina party leader Naftali Bennett had made good progress in talks to form a new government. This group, which aimed to replace the Netanyahu government, was called the "Change bloc."
In October 2021, Yesh Atid joined the Liberal International as an observer member. This group connects liberal parties around the world.
The 2022 Israeli election resulted in Yesh Atid winning 24 seats, which was their best result ever. They received the most votes in many areas of Tel Aviv and other cities in Israel. However, they were not able to form a government and returned to being in the opposition.
In October 2023, Yesh Atid announced it would hold its first leadership elections. The current leader, Yair Lapid, ran against another member of parliament, Ram Ben-Barak. The elections were held on March 28, 2024. Lapid won with 52.5% of the votes, beating Ben-Barak by a small margin of just 29 votes.
Current Members of Knesset
Yesh Atid has members who serve in the Knesset. As of 2025, some of the members include:
- Yair Lapid
- Meir Cohen
- Karine Elharrar
- Meirav Cohen
- Elazar Stern
- Mickey Levy
- Meirav Ben-Ari
- Ram Ben-Barak
- Yoav Segalovitz
- Boaz Toporovsky
- Michal Shir
- Yorai Lahav-Hertzanu
- Vladimir Beliak
- Ron Katz
- Matti Sarfati Harkavi
- Tania Mazarsky
- Yasmin Fridman
- Debbie Biton
- Moshe Tur-Paz
- Simon Davidson
- Naor Shiri
- Shelly Tal Meron
- Yaron Levi (who replaced Orna Barbivai on August 1, 2023)
What Yesh Atid Believes In
Yesh Atid is generally seen as a "centrist" party, meaning it holds views that are in the middle of the political spectrum. It has ideas that support both free markets and social freedoms. The party aims to represent the middle class in Israel.
It focuses on issues related to daily life, the economy, and how the government works. This includes making changes to the government and ending special rules that allow some groups to avoid military service. Yesh Atid also supports restarting peace talks with the Palestinians and stopping new building in Israeli settlements. The party believes in keeping religion and state separate, especially by helping ultra-Orthodox Jews join the workforce and the army.
Yesh Atid's Main Goals
When the party was registered, Lapid listed eight main goals:
- Changing Israel's priorities to focus on daily life, like education, housing, health, transportation, and policing. They also want to improve life for the middle class.
- Changing how the government works.
- Making education and army service equal for everyone. This means all Israeli students should learn important subjects, all Israelis should serve in the army, and all citizens should be encouraged to work, including ultra-Orthodox and Arab citizens.
- Fighting against political corruption. This includes having a smaller government with fewer ministers and protecting the power of the High Court of Justice.
- Helping the economy grow and be more efficient. This means fighting poverty, reducing complicated rules, improving transportation, lowering living and housing costs, and helping small businesses.
- Creating new education laws with teachers' help, reducing most final exams, and giving schools more freedom.
- Creating a basic set of laws (a constitution) to help different groups in Israel get along better.
- Working for peace based on the idea of "two states for two peoples" (meaning separate states for Israelis and Palestinians), while keeping large Israeli communities safe.
Other Positions
Yesh Atid also supports:
- Allowing different types of Jewish religious groups to be recognized and funded by the state, similar to how the Orthodox Chief Rabbinate is funded.
- Allowing non-Orthodox groups to perform religious ceremonies like conversions and weddings, and for these to be accepted by the state.
- Allowing all Jewish religious groups to pray equally at the Western Wall.
- Allowing some public transportation to run on Saturdays (Shabbat).
- Renewing peace talks with the Palestinians and stopping new building in Israeli settlements.
- Gradually stopping Israel's use of fossil fuels to become carbon neutral by 2050.
Yesh Atid supports equal rights for all people. The party supports policies like:
- Allowing all couples to have children through surrogacy.
- Allowing civil marriage in Israel for all couples.
- Allowing all couples to adopt Israeli children.
- Making punishments stronger for hate crimes against people based on their identity.
- Banning certain harmful practices.
- Allowing individuals to change their gender on their identity card without needing surgery.
- Creating guidelines for how people are treated in the education system and including studies about different identities.
Leaders
| Leader | Took office | Left office | ||
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Yair Lapid | 2012 | Incumbent | |
Election Results
| Election | Leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/− | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Yair Lapid | 543,458 | 14.33 (#2) |
19 / 120
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Coalition | |
| 2015 | 371,602 | 8.81 (#4) |
11 / 120
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 8 |
Opposition | |
| Apr 2019 | with Blue and White |
15 / 120
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 4 |
Snap election | ||
| Sep 2019 |
13 / 120
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2 |
Snap election | |||
| 2020 |
13 / 120
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Opposition | |||
| 2021 | 614,112 | 13.93 (#2) |
17 / 120
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4 |
Coalition | |
| 2022 | 847,435 | 17.79 (#2) |
24 / 120
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7 |
Opposition | |
See also
In Spanish: Yesh Atid para niños
- Elections in Israel
