israeli politics

telltale Gun - nov 15, 2022

What does this photograph show?

Sara Netanyahu (C) meets with the wives of several of the prospective coalition members Yaffa Deri (2L), Maoz (L), Ayala Ben Gvir (2R) and Rivka Goldknopf (R) on November 14, 2022. Ben Gvir can be seen with a hand gun tucked into her skirt. (Likud)

5 wives of coalition members – Sara, beautifully dressed in the middle, surrounded by four women who obviously keep themselves in the background.  Of course, the one who stands out is Yaffa Deri, whose Sephardic taste is suitable for an extremely orthodox woman.  And the others are purposely drab = as modest Ashkenazi wives should be.  

But Ayala Ben Gvir, with her cowboy boots and handgun, may be the one you might not notice.  And yet, her outfit has the most interesting history.  I too like Meir Kahane watch Hopalong Cassidy movies.  I know where the mentality comes from: the circle of wagons keeping off the wild Indians from the innocent settlers who just hunger to keep what belongs to them by God-given right. 

And you can see how she stands – full face next to Sara – knowing she will be in the middle soon.  Because it is her right.

 

 

 

 

t Read Post »

israeli politics

We busy ourselves with relatively irrelevant calculations while our other friends are worried about the financial drain the extremely religious parties will be on our economy.  For example, let’s consider that Boeing 667 Bibi had remodeled for his personal needs the last time he was PM.  It has been kept up all this time, but never used.  With all its Shah of Iran comforts, it will be wonderful to use for those official visits to foreign premiers, but because it is a model no longer in use, in order to fly it, a pilot and crew will have to be trained.  This may prove to be a very expensive task.  Will the new Finance Minister, Arieh Deri, approve it?  Or will he prefer to use the money for breath tests to check whether drivers ate dairy after meat?  

Just a thought.

 

calculations – Nov 13, 2022 Read Post »

israeli politics

The German Colony is a neighborhood that was bought and built by German Templars – in their endeavor to hasten the second coming of Jesus.  When they were deported at the beginning of the second world war, the area was deserted, but after the establishment of the state, Israel bought the land, deducting the price from the reparations, and it is now a beautiful little corner of normality in Jerusalem.  We wandered through the old Terminal and were guided through the streets, entertained by stories of each house.   

Of course I have forgotten them already.

But it must be beautiful to live in a bubble in Jerusalem.  The air is so much better than the air in Tel Aviv…

 

 

german colony – nov 12, 2022 Read Post »

israeli politics

Since most of my friends are liberal, and the government looks like it’s going to be very actively religious, I’ve been getting far too many prospective case scenarios – the most extreme came from my fifteen-year-old granddaughter tonight.  “Do you have a wig ready?” she asked.  I have a fading hope that a solution can be found that would ease this situation but it is getting closer and closer to the endpoint.  If it happens I fear my entire life will change. 

theocricy? – nov 11, 2022 Read Post »

israeli politics

It was time to stop pushing the mess in my office out of camera range whenever I do a zoom, so I spent the morning going through a bunch of papers that turned out to be my numerous failed efforts to find out if any of my mother’s family survived the Holocaust.  So when I heard Ezi talking to some girls at the door, I came running out – thrilled at the possibility of a distraction.  

It turned out to be two Arab students who got locked out when they were cleaning their apartment upstairs.  And they had to get hold of one of their roommates to get a key.  

The roommates were so close – in classes down the block – but they needed ID cards to get into the university to find them.   It was simple for me to drop the paper tragedy and drive through my little mitzvah.  It took less than half an hour.

I came home to my paper-strewn study and shut the door.  It’s almost time to go with Ezi to his Pet CT.

I was so happy to have something else to do that, after their failed attempts to connect with the others, I proposed to take them to the university to get

neighbors – nov 10, 2022 Read Post »

israeli politics

As much as we tried to get the children to pay attention to art, after the beautiful exhibition of wax birds they were all finished with passive looking.  The visit would have been over had they not discovered the minecraft site.  

It was no use pulling them away and saying they could do this at home.  They wanted electronics.  No Picasso could distract them.

The museum was gloomy anyway, and that didn’t help our mood either.

It doesn’t comfort me to know that there are more fascists in France than Israel.  It doesn’t comfort that the Democrats did better than we fears in the US election.  It doesn’t help me that Herzog warned the religious parties of the negative press Ben Dvir generates in the world.  I think back at the gathering of birds we saw yesterday and I wonder how many of them, and how many of us, are heading for extinction.

 

 

 

museum mindcraft – nov 10, 2022 Read Post »

israeli politics

Afternoon on a rainy day – where do you go? the museum.  After lunch at the crowded  cafeteria I went to the bathroom with my granddaughter, and recalled how in Japan they same word is for clean and beautiful, that is the sparkling clean toilets are not only bidets and chairs for babies, but there is also a shelf next to the lock for the telephone and keys.  I wanted to run out and tell my Tamar, and – guess what – I forgot my phone in the toilet.

And two miutes later it wasn’t there.  

Orit ran upstairs to ask at the office if my phone was found, while we retraced my steps.   

In the end the phone was found, but all desire to enjoy art disappeared, and went home.

 

tel aviv museum Read Post »