Yesh Atid party chairman Yair Lapid promised to “work very hard” to be the “next Prime Minister” Monday, at the annual Anti-Defamation League convention in Washington, D.C.

“This is the time for Israel to move forward, and we [will] offer the public a detailed plan which will propel Israel back on the right track,” Lapid promised during an on-stage interview during the event. 

Lapid added that Israel currently faces a number of challenges – both internal and external. 

“We have to have leadership which knows how to deal with these challenges,” he said. 

The former Finance Minister noted that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is “a tough opponent,” but also that the mantle of leadership can change with the times. 

“It’s time for Israelis to move on, and I will do that with dignity,” he said. “I do not like politicians to build leadership through mudslinging against the Prime Minister, and I direct my respect to him, but it’s time for Israel to move forward – that’s why I joined politics.” 

Lapid made clear, however, that he does not intend to join the coalition – amid rumors of a unity government between Likud and the Zionist Union. 

“People are busy just arranging the roles they want to play rather than focusing on what they want to do for Israel,” Lapid fired. “The politicians are so busy with themselves that they forget that they have a purpose and that is to serve the public.”

“This is bad for Israel,” he added. 

Politics, Lapid insisted, are a series of tools meant to be used to make the world better, not to distribute portfolios to cronies. 

“It sends a message that causes people to be skeptical of the political system, and say to themselves that the political system has no connection to them, ” he said.