Lihi Lapid claims: I was fired from Mediot after 15 years - because I am married to Yair

May 11, 2019   

After 15 years: Lihi Lapid was fired from her job at Yedioth Television, where she published a weekly column. Lapid revealed this in a long post she published on her Facebook page. "I was fired. After 15 years, I was fired in a phone call - because of my husband," Lapid wrote. "I told my editor that I couldn't believe she was firing me. And the editor said, 'Don't you think it's problematic that you're going back to writing in the newspaper?' "No, I don't think it's problematic that I write a women's personal column in the newspaper - even if my husband is a politician. And I especially don't think that in 2019 in the State of Israel, it's possible to fire a person because of their partner's work. I censored myself in the newspaper quite a few times. I always deleted everything they asked for without any argument - just so that everything would be fine. So that no one would say anything." Lapid added: "They didn't raise my salary for 15 years - so that they wouldn't say anything. They didn't move me from the local newspaper so that they wouldn't say anything. So here I am - now they fired me so they wouldn't say it. And I won't stay silent. I'm proud to be Yair's wife, but I'm not just his wife. I'm me too. I'm a working woman." Lapid continued: "I gave my soul when I wrote, I was loyal only to the readers, I revealed my feelings and thoughts in the section, I was careful with every letter, I checked the facts, I took the photos that were published in it, I answered every email and every letter I received from readers (and my readers). And now I've been fired just because of my husband." According to her, "You have to fight against silencing. Women cannot be silenced because of their clothing, their head covering, or the fact that they have opinions. And I won't stay silent about someone thinking it's right to silence a woman because of her husband. You went too far!" MK Yair Lapid of Blue and White responded to his wife's firing: "I still find it hard to believe that they fired Lihi just because she's my wife, but these are the times we live in. This is part of the attack on all the values ​​that once seemed obvious to us. This is part of the campaign against us that crossed all borders. We are strong and loving and will withstand any attack, but this is what happens when a newspaper starts to fear the government.".