Joseph "Tommy" Lapid (Hebrew: יוסף "טומי" לפיד; born Tomislav Lampel [Serbian Cyrillic: Томислав Лампел]; 27 December 1931 – 1 June 2008) was a Yugoslav-born Israeli radio and television presenter, playwright, journalist, politician and government minister known for his sharp tongue and acerbic wit.

He fiercely opposed the ultra-Orthodox political parties and actively sought to exclude any religious observance from the legal structure of the Israeli State.

After serving as a radio operator in the Israel Defense Forces between 1950 and 1953, Lapid graduated with a law degree from Tel Aviv University in 1957.

[7] Later, he was hired by the mainstream daily Maariv, where he became an influential publicist, and went on to become director-general of the Israel Broadcasting Authority and chairman of the Cable TV Union.

Lapid reiterated his earlier comments that he felt Ostrovsky was a traitor to Israel and hoped that "there will be a decent Jew in Canada who can assassinate him for us.

[1] 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 Holocaust, personal memories of which were still present among older Israeli politicians, such as Lapid, serving in government at the time.

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.

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 disengagement plan.

[citation needed] In July 2006, Lapid was appointed Advisory Board Chairman of Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority, a role he called "a sacred duty".