Since the dissolution of parliament on Thursday, Yair Lapid has taken a leading position in the country's political scene. Lapid has been in public office for 10 years - previously known as the founder of the Yesh Atid party and Israel's foreign minister.
"The Israeli system needs major changes and an overhaul," he said last week. "What we need to do today is to return to the concept of Israeli unity. Not to allow dark forces to divide us from within."
Remarkably, Lapid did not graduate from high school. He was a journalist, writer and TV star before his political career. For a time Lapid was a sort of entrepreneur: a horse trader.
