Politics is not reality TV

Yair Lapid is a positive person. He is a man frightened by current Israeli politics who wants to repair it. He has solid values, he is very Israeli, and very often has interesting things to say. Lapid wants to enter politics to effect change. Therefore, he wants to be prime minister. And fast.

If he wanted to start out as an ordinary MK, I would support him. He would become a student, on the taxpayers' dime, of how to behave in politics. He would learn, while fulfilling various political duties, how to execute.

The price of learning how to execute, which entails making the occasional mistake, is acceptable when talking about preparing a man for an executive position. But Lapid's desire to start from the top bodes poorly.

In order to be an effective leader and change things, one must be equipped with leadership experience. Does Lapid have such experience? Has he done things? Has he ever moved anything from one place to another? He appeared on television, he spoke eloquently, but that is not enough to be prime minister, or even enough to chair a substantial political party on the road to becoming prime minister.

But in today's Israel, anything can happen. This is a nation of ratings and reality television. It is a "Big Brother" and "Real Housewives" nation. In this country, a man who never led anything could be elected leader, and a man who never executed anything could become the chief executive.

Israel's citizens must discard this reality television culture when selecting their next leader, in the face of social, security, and economic challenges. The citizens of Israel must elect a leader well versed in leadership, just as a commercial company would select a CEO, or as an elite sports team would select a coach, on the basis of proven skills and experience.

If we poll industrial factory owners and ask them if they would hire Yair Lapid to run their companies, which are far less difficult to run than a country, the answer would be categorically "no." You cannot begin your political career in an executive position without skills and experience – the damage would be too great. When Ariel Sharon, Benjamin Netanyahu, Ehud Barak and Shaul Mofaz entered politics they were all seasoned directors of one body or another, they had all led big groups and several of them had even acquired some business experience. When Ehud Olmert entered politics he started from the bottom, and had accrued years of experience by the time he was elected prime minister. Shimon Peres directed the Defense Ministry and filled a wide spectrum of political posts before becoming prime minister.

Yitzhak Rabin and Netanyahu are prime examples of how experience makes a better leader. Both served two separate terms as prime ministers, and both had improved significantly by the second time around.

Yair Lapid wants to be an instant prime minister. It will not work, and we, as voters, must not allow it. I will venture a guess and surmise that Shlomo Yanai (who recently stepped down as Teva Pharmaceutical Industries CEO), who has plenty of experience, will not agree to be Lapid's second in command.

Yair Lapid is an excellent individual. He needs to learn how to lead and execute before he leads and executes. Is that too much to ask-

Brig. Gen. (Res.) Oded Tyrah is a co-founder of the Israel Leadership Institute.

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