One of Israel's best-known TV news presenters has turned his back on journalism to launch his own political party.
Yair Lapid, who is also a best-selling author and columnist, has become very popular since be began running news shows in the 1990s.
For the past four years he has been the anchor of Channel 2's top-rated weekend news programme.
Polls suggest that Lapid, the 48-year-old son of a former justice minister, would attract many secular voters.
It could even mean that he could lead the second-largest party after prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu's Likud. Elections in Israel are due in late 2013 but governments in Israel rarely serve their full terms.
Lapid's move from journalism to politics mirrors that of his late father, Joseph Lapid, a newspaper columnist and TV personality who also started his own party.
Like his father, Lapid opposes Israel's ultra-Orthodox religious establishment but little is known about his overall political views beyond being regarded as a moderate pragmatist.
He has clearly spooked some sitting politicians. A bill - nicknamed "the Lapid law" - seeks to require journalists to go through a six-month "cooling off" period before they enter politics.
Source: Reuters/Jerusalem Post
